HGH Deficiency in Men: How Does it Affect Male Health?

HGH deficiency in men occurs when the body produces too little human growth hormone (HGH) on its own. As a result, because HGH is vital for health, a cascade of negative health effects follows that can significantly harm quality of life and lead to premature death.

In such cases, HGH replacement therapy with somatropin (synthetic HGH) can correct the imbalance and restore healthy HGH levels in men for greater energy, enhanced cognition, and improved sexual function – among numerous other benefits that we’ll explore here.

Read more to learn how HGH deficiency affects health in adult men and why, if you have the condition, you can’t sufficiently boost growth hormone naturally or with supplements. Learn more about the symptoms, causes, and treatment for HGH deficiency.

What is human growth hormone?

HGH is one of the most important of the more than 50 identified hormones in the human body. It’s called a peptide hormone, and most widely known for improving body composition and stimulating muscle development – although that’s by no means all it does.

The small pineal gland located in the midbrain region produces and releases HGH in regular intervals, with the greatest concentrations pumped into the blood supply at night during sleep.

Too much HGH results in a condition called acromegaly. Too little HGH is called growth hormone deficiency (GHD), otherwise known as hypopituitarism.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the use of somatropin (synthetic HGH) as the only proven method to treat HGH deficiency.

HGH interacts with receptor sites that are situated in nearly every organ and tissue in the body, including in the liver, kidneys, muscle tissue, and brain.

It works in tandem with another hormone called insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), which is produced and released by the liver.

Why is HGH important for men’s health?

HGH performs multiple roles across the various tissues and organs it interacts with. These include:

• enhancing mood
• boostering libido (sex drive)
• stimulating muscle growth (anabolism)
• speeding up metabolism
• promoting optimal cognition (memory and focus)
• regulating energy levels
• strengthening bones

HGH levels tend to decline with age. However, this is not a part of the “normal aging process” and puts men at an increased risk of several chronic illnesses, so it’s important to identify and correct any deficiencies before they create serious health issues.

How is growth hormone deficiency diagnosed?

The first step in diagnosing growth hormone deficiency is for patients to share their symptoms with their healthcare provider. After an initial consultation and physical examination, your doctor might decide that you should undergo testing to confirm the presence of the condition.

The only definitive way to diagnose GHD deficiency is a blood test to measure circulating HGH levels.

Your doctor may also order a GH stimulation test to further assess the pituitary function and determine whether it is properly working.
In cases of GHD where there is a suspected structural issue, such as cases caused by head trauma, your doctor may further perform an x-ray of the patient’s head to look for signs of damage.

The benefits of HGH therapy for men

The benefits of HGH therapy begin to appear within two weeks of beginning therapy and continue to build up over the course of a year.

Let’s take a survey of the benefits that HGH therapy delivers on a timeline.

• Begin therapy under the supervision of your doctor
• Begin to experience the benefits in as little as two weeks.

One of the most noteworthy and transformative health benefits offered by therapy is that HGH activates stem cells.

Stem cells are vital and naturally-occurring superstars in anti-aging medicine. They have the proven unique capacity to differentiate into other cells to replace aging ones in various organs and tissues. Stem cells turn into new brain cells, new hair cells, and new liver cells. They literally make patients decades younger at a cellular level.

Competitive athletes increasingly use HGH to improve athletic performance.

Here are the steps to begin treatment:

• Schedule a consultation with a hormone doctor called an endocrinologist.
• Discuss all of your HGH-related health concerns and undergo testing for an HGH deficiency. This may include a blood test for HGH levels, GH stimulation test, and possibly an x-ray.
• After testing, return to the clinic to review the results with your endocrinologist
• If testing indicates a deficiency, then develop an individualized treatment plan. This will likely include the therapeutic administration of somatropin, an exogenous form of synthetic HGH approved to reverse GHD.
• The doctor writes the prescription for somatropin.
• You can now legally purchase HGH anywhere in the United States.
• Begin therapy under the supervision of your doctor
• Begin to experience the benefits in as little as two weeks.

Are there natural ways to boost your HGH levels?

There are some lifestyle adjustments that are shown to moderately improve HGH levels such as diet optimization, better sleep habits and regular exercise.

However, while these interventions are beneficial for overall health and may lead to moderate gains in circulating HGH levels, the only FDA-approved way to treat a clinical deficiency is HGH therapy.

So-called “HGH boosters,” often in the form of pills, do not sufficiently elevate HGH levels in men who have deficiencies. Unregulated supplement manufacturers market these products to men with no prescription.

WebMD explains that “the Federal Trade Commission has seen no reliable evidence to support the claim that these products [HGH boosters] have the same effects as prescription HGH, which is always given by injection.”

In addition to being ineffective, the World Health Organization also warns that HGH boosters also often contain dangerous, potentially harmful ingredients because these products are entirely unregulated by the FDA or other oversight bodies.

There are only a handful of somatropin products approved for use in the US by men with HGH deficiencies. These include (with the manufacturer listed in parenthesis):

• Norditropin – (Novo Nordisk)
• Saizen – (EMD Serono)
• Zomacton – (Ferring)
• Humatrope – (Eli Lilly)
• Genotropin – (Pfizer)
• Sogroya (Novo Nordisk) (new)
• Omnitrope – (Sandoz)

What if HGH deficiency goes untreated?

Untreated HGH negatively affects quality of life and puts the patient at a significantly elevated risk of early death to a variety of chronic health conditions associated with low HGH levels.

Over the long term – particularly as we age, since men’s HGH levels can drop by half from age 20 to age 70 – untreated HGH deficiency can lead to:

• Sarcopenia (age-related muscle wasting)
• Cognitive decline/neurodegenerative disease
• Osteoporosis (age-related bone weakening)
• Excessive body-mass index and various conditions associated with obesity
• Increased chronic inflammation (which is implicated in nearly every chronic disease process)

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, untreated GHD is extremely dangerous for heart health because research shows that “exercise capacity in patients with GHD is significantly reduced and in some severely affected individuals, dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure has been reported. GHD has also been associated with a number of risk factors for cardiovascular disease.”

If you’re affected by an HGH deficiency, don’t wait to take back control of your health. There are effective treatments out there that are accessible to patients even on modest incomes.

FAQs

Let’s go over a few of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding human growth hormone.