Adults as they age seek to preserve the indicia of youth. In middle and late adulthood, all people experience a series of progressive alterations in body composition. The lean body mass shrinks and the mass of adipose tissue expands. The contraction in lean body mass reflects atrophic processes in skeletal muscle, liver, kidney, spleen, skin and bone. These structural changes have been considered unavoidable results of the aging process. The human aging processes themselves now appear to be a result of such trade-offs involving the side reactions of development and energy metabolism. Many of the disease conditions associated with aging such as sleep and cognitive disorders, mental depression, disruption of the circadian rhythms of pituitary hormone secretion, obesity, hypertension, atherosclerosis, osteoporosis, hyper-cholesterolemia, glucose intolerance, ionic imbalance, endocrine changes and gastrointestinal disorders, are thought to be related to or associated with the gradual decline in the secretory activity of the pineal gland with aging with resultant disorganization of circadian rhythms. It has recently been suggested that reduced availability of growth hormone in late adulthood may contribute to such changes. For example, after about the age of 30, the secretion of growth hormone by the pituitary gland tends to decline. Pituitary growth hormone is a classical endocrine hormone which has profound effects on somatic growth and body composition.
Aging is characterized by disorganization of circadian rhythms caused in part by the progressive decline in the activity of the pineal gland leading ultimately to pineal failure. The pineal gland is recognized as a neuroendocrine transducer, whose chief function is that of synchronizing endogenous circadian rhythms via the conversion of neuronal impulses to melatonin release. The pineal gland is a magnetosensor organ and its functions can be enhanced by the external application of pulsed magnetic fields. The pineal gland produces and/or contains high concentrations of a number of different indoleamines and low molecular weight peptides of probable endocrine importance. Growth hormone, which is secreted from the pituitary gland, stimulates growth of all tissues of the body that are capable of growing. Aging is accompanied by diminished circulating growth hormone and IGF-1 levels observed in parallel with a declined function of the immune system, particularly affecting the T-cell mediated immunity. Reduced growth hormone secretion from the anterior pituitary causes skeletal muscle mass to be lost during aging from 25 years to senescence. Growth hormone secretion declines dramatically with aging accounting for several features associated with aging such as memory loss, obesity, decreased motor activity, increased incidence of sleep disturbances, and increased susceptibility to hypothermia. The GHRH-GH-IGF-I axis undergoes dramatic changes through aging and in the elderly with decreased GH production rate and GH half-life, decreased IGF-I response to GH and GHRH stimuli leads to loss of skeletal muscle mass (sarcopenia), osteoporosis, and increase in fat and decrease in lean body mass. Previous studies have shown that in elderly the level of GH secretion is significant reduced by 70-80% of teenage level. The age-related T-cell immune deficiency has been partly attributed to a progressive atrophy of the thymus gland and is considered to be causally related to the increased risk and severity of acquired infections observed in the elderly. GH and IGF-1 are known to play an integrating role in the development and function of the immune system, as endocrine and/or autocrine/paracrine factors, and their administration has been shown to reverse age-related immune changes.
The body produces human growth hormone which helps us to burn calories more efficiently, boost energy supplies, and enhance tissue regeneration. The production of this hormone decreases with age, thereby adding to the aging process. Human growth hormone (hGH) is produced by the pituitary gland. HGH promotes the growth of bone and regulated height, stimulates the breakdown of body fat to produce energy, and the synthesis of collagen for cartilage, tendons and ligaments. There is an ongoing interest in regulating growth hormone (GH) because of its link to age-associated diseases. More specifically, growth hormone is known to play a significant role in growth of all tissues, cell repair and regeneration, brain and organ function, sexual function, bone strength, energy, and metabolism. As individuals age, GH decreases and, as such, tissue repair and regeneration activity decreases. Amongst other age-associated diseases, a decrease in GH has been associated with a decrease in bone density and an increase in intra-abdominal fat. Human growth hormone helps increase muscle mass, hence it’s promising to the sports community and for anti-aging. With respect to osteoporosis, recombinant human GH may not increase bone mineralization but it is suggested that it may prevent bone demineralization in post-menopausal women. Further studies are currently underway to demonstrate this theory.
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