Anti-Aging Therapy

In our continuing efforts to make our patients look and feel better, the new anti-aging rejuvenation therapy provides us with an opportunity to do both for you. As we age, natural hormone levels decrease. We believe it is possible to retard the aging process or in some cases reverse the aging process with natural hormone replacement therapy - the "Feel-Good" therapy. Diagnostic evaluation and blood chemistries will provide us with a baseline analysis of your present state of health, and what you will require for the rejuvenation therapy to look and feel better. Your progress will be monitored on a regular basis. Dr. Roche will recommend what hormone therapy is indicated for you, according to your present health status. We may also recommend certain vitamins and supplements as indicated, on an individual basis.

What is a Hormone?

The first step in your education is to become familiar with some of the terms and definitions used while discussing Human Growth Hormone. Ready? Let's jump right in...

Hormones are tiny chemical messengers that help our body do different tasks. Hormones are made up of amino acids and are produced by the endocrine glands. Then they are sent all over the body to stimulate certain activities. For example, Insulin is a well-known hormone that helps our body digest food. Our growth, digestion, reproduction and sexual functions are all triggered by hormones.

What is Human Growth Hormone?

Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is the most abundant hormone produced by the pituitary gland (pituitary is one of the endocrine glands). The pituitary gland is located in the center of the brain. HGH is also a very complex hormone. It is made up of 191 amino acids - making it fairly large for a hormone. In fact, it is the largest protein created by the Pituitary gland.

HGH secretion reaches its peak in the body during adolescence. This makes sense because HGH helps stimulate our body to grow. But, HGH secretion does not stop after adolescence. Our body continues to produce HGH usually in short bursts during deep sleep. Growth Hormone is known to be critical for tissue repair, muscle growth, healing, brain function, physical and mental health, bone strength, energy and metabolism. In short, it is very important to just about every aspect of our life!

What role does HGH play in the body?

Human growth hormone and IgF-1 (insulin-like growth factor-1) have been shown to play a significant role in:

• 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

Basically, any function in your body is in some way tied to HGH. This is why HGH is often called the "fountain of youth". Elevated HGH levels are what make you feel young again.

Does your body always produce HGH?

The good news is that your body must always produce HGH or you would not be able to function. The bad news is that as you pass the age of 20, your body produces less and less HGH each year. By age 60, you will probably have lost 75% of the HGH that your body produced.

If you are a into numbers, here are some average HGH secretion levels:

• At 20 years old we average 500 micrograms/day
• At 40 years old we average 200 micrograms/day
• At 80 years old we average 25 micrograms/day

Why does the body produce less HGH as we get older?

This is the million-dollar question. It really ties into a bigger question - Is aging a preventable disease? For years people have believed that as we get older our body basically wears out. The theory went that all of our organs, tissues, muscles, bones, etc., have a set life span and will get weaker as we age. When someone is 40 and is complaining that they can not do what they used to be able to do at 20, we accepted this as the natural process of getting old.

Research into HGH shows that aging may be preventable to a certain extent. Let me clarify that, I am not saying that we will all become immortal (except for Dick Clark - he never seems to age). What I am saying is that research indicates that our body is very capable at the age of 40 to have the same makeup as we did at the age of 20. Okay, I am getting a little carried away - let's get back to HGH.

It was originally believed that the pituitary gland just didn't have the capacity to produce large amounts of HGH as we get older. However, recent studies have shown that aging pituitary glands are capable of producing as much HGH as young pituitary glands, if it is adequately stimulated. This shows that the somatotroph cell, the cell in the pituitary gland that releases HGH, does not "lose power" as we age.

The questions still remains, if the problem is not with the pituitary gland, then why does HGH decrease as we age? One theory is that the pituitary gland does not "know" it should be producing more HGH. Our body has a feedback loop that says when the IGF-1 levels decrease, produce more HGH. For some unknown reason it is possible that this loop is broken and the pituitary gland has a harder time getting the signal to produce more HGH as we age.

Another theory is that as we get older our Somatostatin levels increase. Somatostatin is a natural inhibitor to growth hormone. So, as we age the somatostatin levels increase and this leads to a decrease in HGH.  As we speak a lot of very smart people are trying to come up with a definitive answer as to why HGH levels decrease with age, but as of now we just have theories.

Is there any way to maintain high HGH levels as we age?

Yes. A doctor can do a daily injection of this HGH and it will lead to an overall increase of growth hormone in the body. It is important to understand that recombinant HGH is only available in injection form. The 191 amino acid hormone is too delicate to be made in any oral form.

What effect does this increase in HGH have on the body?

This is where it gets exciting. While numerous studies have been done on the effects of HGH injections, the most ground breaking study was done by Dr. Rudman and published in the New England Journal of Medicine on July 5, 1990. The journal reported that men who had taken HGH injections had shown an 8.8 percent gain in lean body mass with a 14 percent loss in body fat - without any change in diet or activity! It bears repeating that there was no change in diet or exercise - and the subjects who received HGH injections had a 8.8 percent increase in lean body mass.

If you look at all the studies that have been done on HGH injections you get the following list of benefits:

• 8.8% increase in muscle mass on average after six months, without exercise
• 14.4% loss of fat on average after six months, without dieting
• Higher energy levels
• Enhanced sexual performance
• Regrowth of heart, liver, spleen, kidneys and other organs that shrink with age
• Greater cardiac output
• Superior immune function
• Increased exercise performance
• Better kidney function
• Lowered blood pressure
• Improved cholesterol profile, with higher HDL and lower LDL
• Stronger bones
• Faster wound healing
• Younger, tighter, thicker skin
• Hair regrowth
• Wrinkle removal
• Elimination of cellulite
• Sharper vision
• Mood elevation
• Increased memory retention
• Improved sleep

*The above is taken from Grow Young with HGH by Dr. Ronald Klatz

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