Human growth hormone is an important hormone in your body. It stimulates growth, cell reproduction and regeneration (repair) in humans and other animals. hGH, like thyroid hormone, is involved in keeping every cell, tissue and organ healthy in your body. Specifically, it contributes to:
- Conversion of body fat to muscle mass
- Growth of all tissues
- Energy level
- Tissue repair
- Whole body healing
- Cell replacement
- Bone strength
- Brain function
- Sexual function
- Organ health and integrity
- Enzyme production
- Integrity of hair, nails, skin and vital organs
When you have too little HGH (adult growth hormone deficiency, or AGHD, ICD-9 252.3), you may some or all of the following signs and symptoms:
- Overweight or obesity, esp. in the belly area.
- Mood change (anxiety and depression)
- Abnormal blood lipids (esp. high LDL, high triglycerides)
- Low sex drive and poor sexual performance
- Fatigue
- Social isolation (feelings of being isolated from other people)
- Less tolerance to heat and cold
- Less muscle (lean body mass)
- Less strength, stamina and ability to exercise without taking a rest
- Reduced bone density and a tendency to have more bone fractures as they get older
There are many reasons why one may develop AGHD, e.g., a pituitary tumor. But one may also develop AGHD as part of natural aging process, i.e., without any other significant causes.
If you suspect that you may have AGHD, some lab tests are usually performed to further support the diagnosis of AGHD, including a simple test of IGF-1 and other more sophisticated
tests.
If you are interested in finding out if you suffer from AGHD, please log into your account and fill out a HGH Questionnaire. HGH replacement therapy, however, is expensive, at ~$700/month.