Is Human Growth Hormone a Key to Longevity?

In the United States, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of synthetic human growth hormone to treat children with short stature and some other growth problems caused by childhood diseases.

The FDA, however, prohibits drug companies from marketing growth hormone for "off-label" uses such as anti-aging. But that hasn't stopped some physicians from prescribing growth hormone to patients willing to pay the price.

It's estimated that some patients spend as much as $1,000 to $2,000 a month on growth hormone for anti-aging purposes, says the American College of Physicians.

"I suspect that the threat of legal action will be the only way this inappropriate use of growth hormone will be curbed," said Dr. Mary Lee Vance, a professor of internal medicine and neurosurgery at the University of Virginia Health System, who specializes in pituitary diseases.

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Vance is concerned about the potential harm to patients. She once corresponded with a patient who took growth hormone ostensibly "to prevent aging." He died from a heart attack six months after starting the therapy, which someone else had prescribed, she said.

The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists says there's currently no place for the use of growth hormone (GH) as an anti-aging agent. "The future role of GH therapy in various clinical conditions should be explored through appropriate scientific investigation and clinical verification," the association writes on its Web site.

Still, proponents of growth hormone therapy remain resolved. In April, a worldwide coalition of physicians and scientists in anti-aging medicine called on the U.S. Congress to reject proposed legislation that would classify human growth hormone as a Schedule III controlled substance, which would tighten restrictions on how it's dispensed.

Meanwhile, scientific investigation continues. Liu intends to expand his research to examine a combination of growth hormone with other agents. "There's some evidence that multiple agents somehow may have some synergistic effect on outcomes, and that's what we're trying to investigate further," he said.

But until those results are in, he suggests that the best life-extending advice comes from our mothers. "Exercise, eat well, don't smoke: Those are the therapies, really, that will help enhance your quality of life and increase your probability of living a long, healthy life," he said.

More information

For more on hormones and aging, visit the U.S. National Institutes of Health.