Human growth hormone (hGH) participates in much of the regulation of normal human growth and development. Growth hormone is a key hormone involved in the regulation of not only somatic growth, but also in the regulation of metabolism of proteins, carbohydrates and lipids. The major benefits of human growth hormone is to promote growth. Growth hormone (GH) stimulates growth of all tissues of the body that are capable of growing. In addition, growth hormone has the following basic effects on the metabolic processes of the body. They include increased rate of protein synthesis in substantially all cells of the body, decreased rate of carbohydrate utilization in cells of the body, and increased mobilization of free fatty acids and use of fatty acids for energy. In recent years, human growth hormone (hGH) has been produced on a large scale by utilizing genetic engineering technology, and is used widely, for example, being clinically applied to Turner's syndrome, infantile chronic renal diseases, achondroplasia and adult GH hyposecretion as well as pituitary dwarfism. Use of the human growth hormone is expected to expand in the future, not only as an agent for treatment of pituitary dwarfism but also as agents for treatment of chronic renal insufficiency, bone fractures and burns. Further, applications for osteoporosis in an aging society and static heart diseases are expected.
Artificial manipulation of growth hormone levels has been demonstrated to have significant therapeutic utility. Human growth hormone supplementation has been shown to be an effective treatment for growth hormone deficiency and their related diseases states in humans. HGH has been used for the treatment of hypopituitary dwarfism, and has been proposed for the treatment of burns, wound healing, dystrophy, bone knitting, diffuse gastric bleeding and pseudarthrosis. For example, wild-type human growth hormone (hGHwt) is used to treat hypopituitism where not enough human growth hormone occurs naturally. Human growth hormone (HGH) has been recognized as a treatment for children of short stature or with renal failure, and has been a safe and effective treatment in most cases. Human growth hormone has been known to be effective in the healing promotion of fracture and burn wound and also in the treatment of patients in nutrient malabsorption condition. Human growth hormone also has lactogenic activity and has been shown to be involved in metabolic processes such as lipid, nitrogen and carbohydrate metabolism. Clinical studies have indicated that growth hormone supplementation may be useful in combating the maladies of aging in humans. Recent studies on human growth hormone have begun to suggest that different regions of the molecule might be involved in controlling the above stated activities. Other indications of human growth hormone include its use in the treatment of hip fractures in the elderly, chronic renal insufficiency, Turner's syndrome, cancer and HIV infection and its subsequent effects.
However, HGH is not a product that can be used in all treatments claimed by drug manufacturers and sellers. If not correctly prescripted and carefully monitored by licensed medical professionals, there're risks or side effects associated with this product. Human growth hormone has been implicated in several diseases. One disease in which GH is involved is acromegaly, in which excessive levels of growth hormone are present. Further diseases involving GH are diabetic retinopathy and diabetic nephropathy. The damage to the retina and kidneys respectively in these diseases, believed to be due to GH, results in blindness or reduction in kidney function. Among the possible long-term side effects of HGH is an increased risk of cancer, and other dangerous side effects include nerve pain and elevated cholesterol and glucose levels. For this reason, HGH is carefully regulated in the U.S. FDA-approved HGH can be legally prescribed for a limited number of conditions including: hormonal deficiency that causes short stature in children; long-term treatment of growth failure due to lack of exogenous GH secretion; long-term treatment of short stature associated with Turner syndrome; adult deficiency due to rare pituitary tumors or their treatment; adult short bowel syndrome; and muscle-wasting disease associated with HIV/AIDS.
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