What Is Growth Hormone Used For in Adults?
Growth hormone is crucial for a healthy body and mind. A deficiency in this vital chemical messenger can cause numerous problems as a person gets older. What is growth hormone used for in adults, and why is it so important? That is the basis for this report about HGH therapy for men and women.
There are numerous names by which medical science refers to growth hormone: somatotropin, GH, human growth hormone, or HGH. Growth hormone levels peak in young adults by the end of puberty, leveling off in the early twenties. By the late twenties, HGH levels are often in decline. The process is extremely slow, so most people do not notice any change until decades later. That is when wrinkles, thinning hair, weight gain, fatigue, depression, and low libido set in. Those are only some of the many changes that occur when growth hormone levels decline.
What is human growth hormone used for as a man or woman gets older and notices these changes?
HGH therapy, in the form of daily injections, boosts the level of growth hormone in the adult body. In turn, that provides the necessary stimulation to GH receptor cells to complete their functions. As growth hormone levels decline, the GH receptors do not receive enough of a stimulus to carry out their functions. Depending on where the receptor cells are located, symptoms can include memory loss, weakened immunity, muscle mass loss, height shrinkage, and more.
Treatment with HGH injections helps to strengthen bones, muscles, hair follicles, immunity, and more. Growth hormone therapy supports brain functions, sexual responses, cell regeneration, and internal organ integrity.
Growth Hormone supports many of the daily functions the body needs to perform at its best.
Who Can Benefit from Growth Hormone?
The question here is not so much who can benefit from growth hormone as much as it is why everyone needs this vital chemical. Man or woman, your body and brain need an adequate supply of GH each day. Without it, you will likely experience changes in physique, emotional state, and cognitive performance. In other words, all areas of your life will suffer if you have low GH levels.
What is HGH used for when a doctor diagnoses growth hormone deficiency in adults?
HGH therapy works to give back to the body what it no longer produces. Depending on the level of deficiency, the doctor will prescribe the appropriate dosage of human growth hormone to make up the difference in what the body produces and what it needs. Treatment aims to increase HGH levels back to their mid-twenties state before the decline occurred. That is when the body and brain likely functioned at their best.
When many people ask what is growth hormone used for, they do so because they are noticing changes in their own lives that are likely affecting their day to day existence. We find that HGH deficiency often causes a decline in motivation, drive, and productivity. Employees may notice they have no interest in their jobs, or that their performance declines. Emotionally, growth hormone deficiency can cause a drop in libido. Depression, mood changes, and lack of sexual interest can derail even the healthiest relationship. Physically, muscle and bone weakness, high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and other changes can lead to further illness.
Any man or woman who has growth hormone deficiency may benefit from HGH injection therapy.
What Medical Conditions Can Growth Hormone Help?
Although many people turn to human growth hormone therapy to improve the physical state of their body, there are more important reasons to consider HGH injections. We briefly touched on high blood pressure and cholesterol levels in the previous section. That brings up the subject of what is HGH used for medically in adults?
Men and women with growth hormone deficiency have a higher risk of being diagnosed with the following conditions:
- Atherosclerosis
- Cardiovascular disease
- Dementia
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol and triglyceride levels
- Metabolic syndrome
- Obesity
- Osteoporosis
- Type 2 diabetes
Although growth hormone deficiency is not a direct cause of these health issues, its effects on the body can increase these risks.
What is growth hormone used for regarding other medical conditions?
HGH has benefits for people who have low growth hormone levels due to head trauma, brain tumors, radiation therapy, or infections such as meningitis. These issues could all lead to low growth hormone levels that require treatment.
Other medical conditions that can benefit from growth hormone use in adults include:
- HIV/AIDS wasting and weight loss
- Prader-Willi syndrome
- Turner’s syndrome
- Short bowel syndrome
- Noonan syndrome
- Chronic kidney disease
Growth hormone therapy is helpful for numerous health conditions.
Can You Use Growth Hormone for Weight Loss?
Men and women who are growth hormone deficient tend to gain weight. The biggest increase is in abdominal fat which can crowd and reduce the functions of the internal organs. Weight gain puts a strain on the heart – making it pump harder to power the body. As people age, weight gain occurs because the metabolism does not function properly. Growth hormone is a direct stimulator of metabolic processing of lipids, carbohydrates, and protein. HGH is essential for muscle protein synthesis. Another hormone, testosterone, also plays a significant role in metabolism. Growth hormone helps to promote testosterone production – and vice versa.
If growth hormone benefits metabolism, is HGH used for weight loss in overweight adults?
Human growth hormone therapy is not a weight loss program or diet. Although it does trigger the body’s fat burning mechanisms, it also supports muscle growth. While most adults do lose a significant amount of belly fat, they also gain some lean muscle. The numbers on the scale do not always explain the difference in body composition and appearance.
Doctors do not prescribe growth hormone for weight loss. However, fat burning is one of the benefits many people will notice.
If you have further questions about what is growth hormone used for, please contact our hormone clinic. Our medical advisors are here to provide free consultations by phone to help you determine if this treatment is right for you.
Although growth hormone is not a weight loss or diet aid, it will help the body burn fat – at the same time increasing lean muscle mass.