Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is produced in the pituitary gland of the body. This gland is located at the brain. Human body produces a lot of hormones and HGH is an important one among them. This protein based hormone contains about 191 amino acids. This hormone assists in the reproduction and growth of cells in the body. HGH plays a major role in the growth and development of an organism. In childhood, this hormone promotes growth in height. In adulthood, this hormone helps to achieve healthier body composition. High level of growth hormone in the body will prevent heart disorders.
HGH is also responsible for some other important functions like keeping your body lean, protecting you from the effects of aging, decreasing fat accumulation, improving cholesterol profile of the body, promoting nail and hair growth and improving circulation.
As you become older, the production of HGH also reduces. Since HGH is an important growth hormone, its deficiency may cause serious health problems in humans.
The lack of this hormone will slow down the growth, increases body fat and reduces bone mineral density. It will also affect the cardiovascular functioning. During adolescence, the deficiency of growth hormone will led to poor bone density, suspended development of sexual traits and stunted height. Individuals who are unable to produce sufficient Human Growth Hormone are susceptible to a lot of diseases and disorders. In such individuals HGH is provided as a prescription drug.
HGH production is affected by many factors like exercise, emotional excitement, aging, stress and diet. Proper nutritional plan and stress and sleep management will help to improve the secretion of growth hormone. The deficiency of HGH in the body can be verified through a blood test. This test is known as IGF-1. When the pituitary gland secretes the growth hormone, another hormone called IGF-1 is also generated. So IGF-I can be considered as a good marker of the generation of HGH.
Human Growth Hormone Treatment is extremely difficult and expensive. If a person lacks HGH, then it is injected daily in his body. This is considered as the best artificial method for increasing the amount of HGH in the body. The patient has to take about 50 injections per month. This treatment procedure can cost more than $2,000 per month. In adults, the treatment has to be continued for several years. HGH treatment is also used by athletes for improving their performance. Recent studies show that HGH treatment may cause some side effects like meaning fluid retention, pressure and swelling in body parts, hypertension, edema, diabetes etc.
Human Growth Hormone is used for treating various conditions and diseases like Turner syndrome, Prader Willi syndrome, cachexia, idiopathic short stature, chronic renal failure, genetic syndromes, fibromyalgia, AIDS-related wasting, inflammatory bowel disease and intrauterine growth retardation. HGH treatments will help to optimize the cholesterol level in the body. This hormone helps to reduce the bad cholesterol in the body and improves the good cholesterol levels. It will also strengthen the heart and thus prevents the occurrence of strokes, heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases.