Human Growth Hormone

Over the course of the past several years, a great deal of media attention has been paid to human growth hormone or HGH. With that noted, if you are like most people, while you have heard of and read about HGH at least with some regularity, you may not actually know what is HGH. Through this article, you are provided an overview of what is HGH. Armed with this information, you will be able to make your own judgments and draw your own conclusions about human growth hormone.From a purely technical standpoint, scientists and researchers descibe HGH as being a so-called 191 amino acid and single chain polypeptide hormone. This particularly hormone is synthesized, stores and then secreted by what are known from a biological standpoint as the somatotroph cells that exists in the pituitary gland. (These cells actually are located in what is the anterior pituitary gland.)

In more simple terms, coming to understand what is HGH actually is not as complicated as the scientific definition would lead one to believe. HGH is a hormone that acts to stimulate the reproduction and growth of cells in humans as well as in other animals. For example, the most basic function of natural HGH in the body is to increase the height of a child as he or she grows older.

In more recent times, HGH has been used as a treatment for different conditions. (It is important to mentioned that the use of HGH in some instances has not been without its share of controversy. In other words, while there are some who sing the praises of HGH for different purposes that is another chorus that sounds alarm regarding this usage. Again, by presenting basic information about HGH through this article you will be in a better position to make an educated decision about the use of HGH.)

For a rather significant period of time, the use of HGH has been widely accepted to treat problems relating to unusually short stature that actually are the result of a person not producing enough HGH naturally. In addition, using HGH has also proven at least partially successfully in treating other conditions that do cause short stature but that are the result of other issues beyond merely a lack of appropriate production of natural HGH in a person’s body, including Turner syndrome or chronic renal failure.

HGH has been demonstrated to be particularly helpful in preventing muscular degeneration and wasting in patients who have been diagnoses with AIDS. Wasting of this nature is a particularly serious problem associated with AIDS patients and being able to prevent this degeneration is proving invaluable.

Additionally, HGH is being utilized in some instances to treat other illnesses and conditions, courses of treatment that are proving more controversial. For example, debate has taken place over the efficacy of utilizing HGH to treat such conditions as Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia and Chron’s Disease.

One arena in which the use of HGH is drawing particular debate is that surrounding the use of this hormone to “reverse” the effects of aging. The debate that swirls around this particular application of HGH centers on the effectiveness of HGH in resolving aging related problems and in the side effects that allegedly accompany such a use of HGH.

The reality is that there have been a couple of major studies undertaken on the effects HGH can have on elderly individuals. Both studies conclude that the use of HGH increased muscle mass at least to some degree amongst elderly patients. One study also suggest that HGH was helpful in increasing bone density.

While both of these studies did suggest that there can be some benefit to the use of HGH, neither study made the claim that HGH reverses the aging process. However, the results of these studies have been misinterpreted on some level by some people who claim that this research demonstrates that HGH reverses the aging process. Again, these studies demonstrate that in some instances HGH can be helpful to an elderly person. But, in reality, HGH is not a proverbial Fountain of Youth. Nonetheless, the fact that HGH can assist in improving muscle mass and perhaps bone density in an older person is a very important and beneficial finding to say the least.

The creation of synthetic HGH is attributed to the work of a Chinese born scientist by the name of Choh Hao Li, who undertook his research in the United States. He is said to have first successfully synthesized HGH in 1981. By 1985, synthetic HGH replaced the use of natural HGH for treatment purposes in the United States and in other countries around the world. (Prior the the creation of synthetic HGH, HGH that was utilized for treament purposes was taken from the pituitary glands of cadavers.)