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January 6, 2003 — In the explosive pursuit for the Fountain of Youth, some physicians are prescribing the off-label use of growth hormones to turn back time for their patients. However, physicians should be cautious in their use of growth hormone due its unproven effectiveness as an "anti-aging" treatment to promote longevity and its potential side effects, reports a recent issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).
While there are a number of treatment options to help people live longer, healthier lives — such as proper diet, regular exercise and dietary supplements — a new and somewhat controversial practice is hormone replacement therapy, which increases a patient's level of hormones that are naturally known to decrease with age. Despite the fact that approximately 35 percent of adults aged 65 and older have normal growth hormone levels, growth hormone replacement is receiving attention as an aid in the prevention or reversal of aging. The logic of growth hormone replacement is to reestablish growth hormone levels in an older person to the normally higher circulating levels of a healthy active 25 to 30 year old.
While there is considerable evidence about the positive effects that growth hormone will have on the body, presently there is no correlation to the therapy's success in prolonging longevity.
"Physicians using this treatment could be exposing their patients to many known and even unknown side effects," said Glenn Lyle, M.D., member of the Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation (PSEF) Device and Technique Assessment (DATA) Committee that completed the report. "Some of the known side effects include carpal tunnel syndrome, blood sugar problems, aching joints and muscles, acne and weight gain. We don't know the effect of long-term use of growth hormone replacement."
Although some studies suggest growth hormone replacement helps certain biological markers that accompany aging, such as increasing muscle mass, skin thickness and bone density as well as certain psychological benefits, these studies have not been rigorous enough to warrant wide acceptance as a practical tool to treat aging.
The PSEF DATA Committee recommends further scientific clinical trials to determine the safety and usefulness of growth hormone therapy and its role in anti-aging programs.