We all remember when we were young and grew faster than our clothes. It happens once in a blue moon when a person wakes up to find that they have grown by an inch. All this is thanks to the human growth Hormone (HGH), also called somatotropin.
Why Do Humans Need HGH?
HGH is a hormone. It gets into the blood and stimulates growth and development, particularly in children, by spurring the growth of bone and tissue. It does so by interacting with growth factors. And that explains your height peak during adolescence.
HGH is a hormone. It gets into the blood and stimulates growth and development, especially in children, by growing bone and tissue. It does so by interacting with growth factors. And that’s why you peaked in height during adolescence.
HGH is also a vital hormone that adults produce naturally all the time. In adults, HGH maintains muscle mass and maintains our bone density.
HGH also regulates our metabolism. To be specific, it controls how we break down fats, carbohydrates, and other proteins from food into energy.
What If We Don’t Produce HGH?
Some folks may not produce enough HGH by themselves. This could be due to:
Mutations that affect their production of HGH
Injuries that affect the brain’s production of HGH from the pituitary gland
Such deficiencies often result in:
Delayed puberty among teenagers compared with their peers who are of the same age
Increased fat stores because of decreased metabolism
Decreased muscle mass and bone density
Fatigue and lack of energy among adults
Stunted growth in children
Is There A Cure For This?
The treatment for human growth hormone deficiency (HGD) involves administering hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which necessitates continuous injections that bring back normal levels of HGH.
Usually, synthetic HGH is administered through subcutaneous injections. The amount given is tailored to individual requirements and then monitored through routine follow-ups and blood tests to adjust it.
What’s So Controversial?
If synthetic HGH injections could reduce symptoms and treat HGH deficiency, why then is there a lot of noise surrounding synthetic HGH usage?
Well, some people use artificial hgh purposely for unnatural growth. However, these uses are often not justified medically but typically involve:
Height Enhancement
Athletic Performance
Why The Controversy?
While HGH therapy can indeed be effective for those with a diagnosed deficiency, its use for height enhancement in individuals without a deficiency is controversial.
For children with normal HGH levels, additional HGH is unlikely to significantly increase height. Instead, our growth potential is largely predetermined by genetics, and throwing money into injecting further HGH into children for the sake of height enhancements has not yielded significant results.
Moreover, unsupervised use of HGH can lead to serious side effects, including:
Joint pain
Muscle weakness
Increased risk of certain cancers.
HGH is a necessary component of growth, metabolism, and overall well-being. While some people choose to use synthetic HGH to treat their ailments, using the products for non-medical reasons is always associated with risks and societal ethical concerns. One must not forget that acting without a doctor’s advice might be disastrous sometimes.
Reference List
Brinkman, J.E., Tariq, M.A., Leavitt, L. and Sharma, S. (2023). Physiology, Growth Hormone. [online] PubMed. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482141/#:~:text=HGH%20induces%20growth%20in%20nearly.
Cleveland Clinic (2023). Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD): Symptoms & Treatment. [online] Cleveland Clinic. Available at: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23343-growth-hormone-deficiency-ghd.
Cleveland Clinic. (n.d.). HGH (Human Growth Hormone): What It Is, Benefits & Side Effects. [online] Available at: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/23309-human-growth-hormone-hgh#:~:text=Human%20growth%20hormone%20increases%20vertical.
MSD Manual Professional Edition. (n.d.). Growth Hormone Deficiency in Children - Growth Hormone Deficiency in Children. [online] Available at: https://www.msdmanuals.com/en-sg/professional/pediatrics/endocrine-disorders-in-children/growth-hormone-deficiency-in-children#:~:text=Growth%20hormone%20deficiency%20itself%20typically [Accessed 1 Jul. 2024].
Novo Nordisk. (n.d.). Growth disorders. [online] Available at: https://www.novonordisk.sg/disease-areas/growth-disorders.html#:~:text=Human%20growth%20hormone%20(hGH)%20or [Accessed 1 Jul. 2024].
www.drtanmedicalcenter.com.sg. (n.d.). Human Growth Hormone (HGH) | Dr Tan Medical Center. [online] Available at: https://www.drtanmedicalcenter.com.sg/mens-health/human-growth-hormone-hgh/#:~:text=The%20body%20needs%20HGH%20for [Accessed 1 Jul. 2024].
www.hopkinsmedicine.org. (2019). Growth Hormone Deficiency. [online] Available at: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/growth-hormone-deficiency#:~:text=GHD%20can%20be%20present%20at.
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