Human growth hormones primary endeavor is to control the growth processes. It dictates the height of an individual and plays a role in different metabolic processes. However, HGH is not confined to these roles as science has delegated other roles to it.

The first role is HGH as a solution against aging. Aging is often considered by others as a disease that needs to be prevented. HGH supplements have been designed to increase HGH levels to provide elderly people the characteristics of being a young again.

Another role of the HGH is the alleged effects of the hormone to the performance of an athlete. Athletes have been using HGH supplements to enhance their performance in different sports. Athletes who used HGH were banned in the 1988 Tour de France because of the enhancement effects of the hormone. HGH is known to have an effect in bone density, muscle mass and the whole body composition.

HGH has been banned from the sports world because of the use of steroids. But what are the differences of steroids and HGH? Anabolic steroids have been proven to truly increase an athlete’s performance. On the other hand, there are still doubts about the effectiveness of HGH supplements and its effect on the body. Recent studies show that taking HGH does not really affect the athlete’s performance. Increased muscle mass, denser bone composition and increase in lean body tissue does not necessarily equate to better performance. Another difference is that steroids have many side effects while experts say that HGH has few side effects and is not harmful to the body.

Although HGH intake has significant effects in the exercise aptitude of an athlete, these effects do not equate to the improvement of performance in an athlete. These effects include increase in lactate levels, levels of plasma free fatty acids during exercise, higher heart rate during exercise and higher maximum aspiratory pressure at rest.

The possession of HGH supplement or product is considered a violation in the sports world. Possession of these products can ruin a career.HGH is a banned product in almost all sports.

Athletes who have been found to possess HGH supplements have been banned from their respective sports. These athletes are accused of enhancing their performance through the involvement of drugs. However, the officials that banned these athletes ought to look at the effects of HGH and decide if the punishment on the athletes is just.

Athletes must also review the effects of HGH supplements. Why sacrifice your career if there is no assurance that these HGH supplements truly work and can give you benefits. Experts say that there is a better way to obtain HGH than to use HGH supplements.

According to studies, the secretion of HGH hormone can be increased naturally. Steps to optimize HGH secretion are to sleep early, observe proper diet, and avoid being stressed and proper exercise.  Stress, sleep and exercise are some of the factors that affect the amount of secretion of HGH.

Human growth hormone is explored for its many uses. Since it was discovered, it had been the subject of researchers to find out every possible function that it serves in the body. Athletes had believed that HGH could increase athletic performance but this belief doesn’t have a scientific basis. As far as athletic performance is concern, it is still best for athletes to show their true potential without the help of any drug or supplement.

Children are at a very high risk of being stricken with human growth hormone diseases. Human growth diseases concern the deficiency or excess in HGH that are present in a child. HGH is responsible for growth development and plays a role in the metabolism processes. Children experience abnormalities in their height and body composition when they have HGH diseases.

HGH deficiency affects the child by being relatively small for his age and having a plump body composition. This disease is more frequent in children rather than the excessive presence of HGH. However, there is hope for children with HGH deficiency because there are different ways to augment this deficiency. Children have a higher chance of reaching their normal height if they start their treatment immediately after being diagnosed with the deficiency disease.

The first patient to be treated for the HGH disease was a 17 year old teenager with growth hormone deficiency. The treatment was administered by endocrinologist Maurice Raben in 1958. Raben used cadaver GH by purifying growth hormone from a dead body. However, this method of treatment is seldom used today because of side effects like the Creutzfeldt – Jakob disease.

Different pharmaceutical companies have manufactured their own products in response to HGH deficiency.  These products are generally used by injecting them under the child’s skin. Injections on children are done daily in relatively small doses to avoid possible side effects. These doses are raised regularly based on how the child reacts to the injections.  After being injected, children undergo an evaluation every three to six months. This evaluation is to observe the effects of their treatment specifically on their height and rate of growth.  This is also done to check if there are side effects and to determine the right dosage for the patient.

Excessive human growth hormone can also be treated. This disease is characterized by excessive height. This disease rarely happens in children. Methods of treatment for this disease include:

• Surgery
• Medications
• Pituitary Irradiation

Excessive growth hormone is commonly caused by non cancerous tumors in the pituitary gland and therefore needs to be removed. However, surgery cannot be performed on children with pituitary hyperplasia. Pituitary hyperplasia enlarges the pituitary gland making it impossible to determine an area to be removed.

Medications are available if surgery if not possible on a child. Some drugs that are used are somatostatin analogues, GH receptor antagonists and dopamine antagonists. None the less, these medications do not cure the disease but reduce growth hormone levels; they also need to be taken for the rest of their lifetime, if the disease is not cured.

Pituitary irradiation is not recommended for children and considered as a last resort for patients. It is done if surgery and medication are not effective to treat the GH production. This method is effective but it takes time to fully achieve the benefits of this therapy. It also affects the brain development of a child. Children treated for this disease also need to be monitored for possible side effects of medications and therapies that they have undergone.

Human growth hormone excess and deficiency can both affect the child psychologically and physically. Children with these diseases frequently have low self-esteem because of the feeling of being different from other children. They tend to isolate themselves from others because of their physical abnormalities. Children with low stature are often bullied and this may result in a phobia. Parents should guide and constantly console their children.

HGH diseases can happen to any child and it is not the child’s fault if he has the disease. It is up to the parents to win the battle.

Somatotrophin is specific to every species which means that different species have different growth hormone. It is a peptide consisting of 191 amino acids. It is secreted in explosions and not secreted throughout the day. The secretion of growth hormone increases before sleeping. The amount of secretion of Somatotrophin, together with thyroid and sex hormones, affect the height of the individual. Aside from affecting growth, Somatotrophin also plays a role in controlling metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins and fat. Growth hormone is very important in every individual’s maintenance of body composition.

Human growth hormone is an important hormone in the human body. It is secreted by the pituitary gland that is located in the brain. The growth hormone is a major product of the pituitary gland and is specifically produced by somatotrophs in the anterior part. The growth hormone is often referred to as Somatotrophin and is responsible for controlling growth and has effects in metabolism processes.

The production of growth hormone is increased and decreased by certain factors. These factors include stress, nutrition, exercise and sleep. However, the primary regulators of HGH are growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH), somatostatin and Ghrelin. GHRH stimulates the synthesis and production of the growth hormone. Somatostatin is a peptide produced by hypothalamus and stops growth hormone release in response to GHRH and other motivating factors. Ghrelin powerfully stimulates production of growth hormone through binding with somatotrophs.

Growth hormone has two distinct types of effects in the body. These effects are;

• Direct effects
• Indirect effects

Direct effects are the results of binding between growth hormone receptors and target cells. One example of this is the effect of growth hormone binding with fat cells which results in the breaking down of triglyceride in fat cells and prevents them from taking and circulating lipids. On the other hand, indirect effects are brought about by Insulin like growth factor-I (IGF-I). This hormone is secreted as a response to growth hormone. It is also one of the primary aides of growth hormone in affecting growth.

HGH together with IGF-I have significant roles in different processes in the body. Examples of these processes are:

• Growth of all tissues including repair
• Turning body fat into muscle
• Energy level improvement
• Bone strength
• Brain function

The body actively produces growth hormones during childhood and puberty years. This active production results to height increase in individuals. However, at the end of puberty years, secretion of growth hormone decreases. It continuously decreases as people grow older. The decrease in the production of growth hormone contributes to weakness of bones in older people and their loss of strength. In some cases, children are born with growth hormone abnormalities. Growth hormone deficiency results in low stature of an individual. Excessive growth hormones result in having too much height.

Human growth hormone is very important in as much that is has become the subject of research. Researchers are continuously finding ways to use growth hormones to reverse the aging process and increasing muscle mass. Several researchers and companies have produced HGH products. These products are mainly used in treating HGH diseases. They are available in injections, pills and oral sprays. These HGH products and supplements are also being used to combat age.

HGH products are induced into the body to increase the HGH secretion therefore making the user feel young again. However, the fact remains that age cannot be defeated and the aging process is inevitable for every human.

Human growth hormone (HGH) functions all throughout a man’s life. The anterior part of the pituitary gland, which produces HGH, continuously secretes HGH even as people grow older. However, the amount of HGH secretion decreases as people exceed the puberty years. Adults are prone to many diseases because their immune system weakens thus affecting the whole body. Adults, like children, are also susceptible to HGH diseases.

HGH diseases are mainly of two kinds; deficiency of HGH and excessive HGH. HGH diseases in adults have two general categories;

1.) An adult who had a HGH disease as a child and continues to have the disease

2.) An adult who has contracted HGH disease after youth

One of the HGH diseases that an adult has is Adult Growth Hormone Deficiency (AGHD). This disease is a disorder which is brought on by many factors including the malfunction of the pituitary gland. AGHD has many symptoms namely; abnormal body composition, increased fat mass, decreased lean muscle mass, and decrease in physical power and endurance. AGHD can also bring negative effects to the heart. AGHD, when not treated, leads to morbidity and frequent cardiovascular attacks. In the last 15 years, it has been recognized that growth hormone deficiency (GHD) can happen in adults.

Unlike in cases for children where GHD is easily determined, AGHD is hard to identify because of the lack of growth parameters and effects of other diseases that the patient acquires because of old age. Hence AGHD is determined by conducting a test. The growth hormone stimulation test (GHST) is usually used to determine HGH diseases. GHST measures the ability of the pituitary gland to produce HGH. However, the accuracy of this test was questioned because of test variability and the uniqueness of the physiology of every individual. These factors together with the admittance that IGF-I is significant to HGH makes the analysis of AGHD difficult and diverse.

Comprehensive biochemical testing replaced GHST as method of determining AGHD. This test includes complete blood count, broad metabolic and thyroid panel, and tests in testosterone and estrogen level. This test can reveal other symptoms that may lead to AGHD. It also determines the growth hormone and IGF-I level of a person. When deficiency in IGF-I and growth hormone is determined, further tests will follow.

Another type of disease in adults is acromegaly. Acromegaly is the presence of too much HGH in the human body. This disease does not cause an adult to grow taller like children with HGH excess. In place of increased height, adults experience enlarged hands and feet, crude features of the face, heart size increase and may also cause diabetes.

Agromegaly is commonly caused by a benevolent tumor in the pituitary gland which is also the cause of gigantism in children. Gigantism and acromegaly are the same in the sense that these diseases both concern the overproduction of HGH. The difference is that acromegaly occurs after bone growth while gigantism occurs during childhood.

There are treatments available for these diseases in adults. Surgery, medical therapy and radiation are some of the possible treatment for adult human growth hormone diseases. Many supplements are also accessible to cure the deficiency in HGH. However, these supplements are not mainly used for medical purposes but are explored for positive effects on aging. It is said that these supplements do not only cure GHD but give an adult a “young” feeling again.

These supplements present endless possibilities for adults to enjoy the prime of life again. Nonetheless, supplements are to be taken with proper guidance and instructions because they may have fatal side effects.