Human growth hormone, commonly known as HGH is a hormone that’s naturally produced by the body. The hormone is synthesized and secreted by cells found in the anterior pituitary glands located at the base of the brain. It plays an important role in growth, cell regeneration and maintaining healthy human tissues, including those of the brain and other vital organs. The secretion of HGH into the circulation system follows a pulsatile pattern that results into widely fluctuating blood levels. The process is influenced by various factors like age, gender, sleep, stress, fever, steroids, physical activity, diet and the environment.
The study of HGH is a little more the 100 years old. Synthetic HGH was first developed back in the 1980s and approved by FDA for specific uses in children and adults. This hormone can be injected in large doses to promote loss of weight and increase the size of muscles while smaller doses can be used to ignite the anti-aging process and for general recovery. Presently, there’s a growing list of benefits of Human Growth Hormone in adults, adolescents and children.
These benefits include:
1.Better Fracture Healing
Many local growth hormones and factors are responsible for regulating bone and mineral metabolism. The administration of HGH has been shown to accelerate the regeneration of bone which makes it an important part of bone healing. Applying growth factors such as IGF-1 is widely-known to stimulate the bone metabolism.
In a study that was published in the journal BONE, HGH was applied systemically to recombinant species-specific rats through subcutaneous injections and it was compared to placebo groups. As a result, this local growth factor application showed stronger effects on fracture healing as compared to the systemic HGH injection. These observations show that the application of growth hormones usually speeds up fracture healing without adverse effects.
Human growth hormone also plays a vital role in the repair of body tissues and expedites healing. Researchers have revealed the beneficial effects of growth hormones in enhancing the healing of wounds and injuries to a great extent. To prove the effects of HGH on fracture healing, a randomized, controlled and double-blinded study was conducted for 6 months of HGH therapy in 28 healthy men with low levels of baseline plasma IGF-1 at the University of California. The older men who were administered HGH had enhanced collagen deposition in the wound-healing process, which helps the healing process.
2. Increased Muscle Strength
Human growth hormone is also known to improve the physical capacity of people by stimulating collagen synthesis in tendons and skeletal muscle. In turn, this increases muscle strength and in the process it improves exercise performance.
In the International Journals of Endocrinology, a study conducted with 14 healthy men age between 50 and 70 were randomized into 2 groups. Seven subjects were then administered HGH therapy with 7 placebo subjects. They were re-evaluated after 6 months and there was a great increase in the leg pressure responsiveness.
Overall, the research concluded an increased strength of muscles in the lower body after HGH was administered in men. In HGH-deficient men, participants who were administered with long-term HGH therapy showed increased exercise capacity, normalization of muscle strength and, improved body composition and thermoregulation.
3. Better Mood and Cognitive Functions
Psychological well-being and quality life are restored when human growth hormone therapy is administered in growth hormone-deficient people. A Lithuanian research investigated changes in cognitive functions, concentration and mood from baseline after 6 months of treatment with human growth hormone. A total of 18 adult patients with growth hormone deficiency participated in this study, and the hormone was administered in twelve (12) IU per week.
In the end, cognitive functions and mood increased significantly after 6 months of therapy. The study showed that administering HGH can be an effective treatment option to the mood and improve cognitive function in HGH-deficient adults.
4. Enhanced Weight Loss
Obese individuals usually have limited response to the growth hormone stimuli release. After a successful reduction of body weight, the growth hormone responsiveness can be complete or partial. Growth hormones usually accelerate lipolysis; breakdown of lipids and it involves hydrolysis of triglycerides to free fatty acids and glycerol. Impaired secretion of HGH leads to loss of this lipolytic effect.
Growth hormone treatment effects and Dietary restrictions on lipolytic and anabolic actions were investigated in a study. Twenty-four obese people were placed on a hypocaloric diet and were treated with recombinant HGH. The growth hormone treatment resulted onto a 1.6-fold weight loss, with the greatest loss being visceral fats in comparison to the placebo.
In the placebo group, the lean body mass was significantly lost, whereas the lean body mass was gained in growth hormone groups. The study showed that HGH accelerates loss of body fats and improves the secretion of hormones in obese participants. This shows that human growth hormone serves a therapeutic role to aid obese people in losing weight.
5. Improvements in Erectile Dysfunction
It’s been shown in recent studies that HGH is responsible for the male reproductive functions and sexual maturation whereas the deficiency is generally associated with loss of sexual desire as well as erection. Thirty-five healthy men and 45 adults with erectile dysfunction were exposed to visual stimuli and tactile in order to elicit the penile tumescence in German. The increase in human growth hormone was greater than 90% as determined during the development of penile tumescence, followed by a decrease afterward.
This study showed that penile erection can be reduced by growth hormones through its stimulating activities on human corpus cavernosum smooth muscle. This makes it a potential natural remedy for men suffering from impotence.
6. Aids In The Development Of The Human Body
The effects that human growth hormone has on the body are magnificent when used correctly. HGH is responsible for physical development. Each time a person goes through a growth spurt, the pituitary glands pumps more growth hormone out thus stimulates the development of cartilage and bones. The effects of growth hormone tapers down as one grows older. As a whole, growth hormone promotes the production of proteins, slows insulin any related activity and stimulates the use of fats for energy (lipolysis) thus helping in development of the human body.