Clinical HGH Studies

History of HGH & Clinical Studies

HGH use had been restricted to two classes of people: young children, whose growth was severely stunted due to serious hGH deficiency and adults whose pituitary glands had been damaged or destroyed by injury, illness or radiation.

HGH was in extremely short supply prior to 1984. It was painstakingly extracted from the pituitary glands of human cadavers.

Human use of HGH began in 1958 when endocrinologist Maurice Raben injected HGH into a dwarf child. The child began to grow normally and over the next 30 years thousands of children were injected with cadaver derived HGH.

By 1985 the company that pioneered recombinant DNA technology, Genetech, had produced the first synthetic HGH, opening the way to mass production of hGH.

HGH is an extremely large and complex hormone, consisting of 191 specific amino acids linked in a 3 dimensional structure. Because it is a complex protein, HGH cannot survive digestion and must be taken by injection.

Genetech’s product, Protropin, differed from natural HGH by one amino acid, but this did not affect its performance in the human body. The following year, the Drug Company Eli Lilly succeeded in making a 191 amino acid HGH that was 100% physically, chemically and biologically identical to HGH produced by the human pituitary gland.

Lilly’s Humatrope was also approved by the USA FDA for both research and medical use and became what many clinicians now consider the "gold standard" of recombinant DNA produced hGH. Finally in 1996, thanks to the pioneering medical and legal work of Dr. Edmund Chein, the FDA lifted its ban on the use of HGH for adult patients.

HGH clinical studies

From 1994 through 1996, over 800 people were treated with HGH at Dr. Chein’s clinic. In 1995, Chein began his collaboration with Dr. L. Cass Terry. Terry used his skills as an academic researcher to help Chein turn the mass of clinical data gathered from his patients, into a meaningful statistical profile of results. These results would demonstrate to both scientists and the public, the safety and efficacy of HGH in improving a broad array of human health parameters in adults.

Chein and Terry’s data were published for the first time in Dr. Ronald Klatz’s 1997 book Grow young with HGH.

HGH is secreted by the pituitary gland, a tiny gland at the base of the brain. It is normally secreted in pulsatile bursts, with the largest daily amount being secreted in the first few hours of deep, slow wave sleep.

For reasons of convenience, Dr. Rudman in his 1990 study had given his 12 elderly men only 3 injections of HGH per week, at a high dose of 16 IU.

In a study published in 1996, Dr. Maxine Papadakis of UCSF reported mixed results with the identical high dose, low frequency protocol of HGH injections.  Although both Rudman and Papadakis found significant multiple benefits, especially on the body composition of the subjects, they also reported some unpleasant side effects. These included carpal tunnel syndrome (wrist pain), gynecomastia (enlarged breasts), pains in both large and small joints and edema (excess fluid) in the legs.

Papadakis’ team also noted, however, that the side effects disappeared or decreased markedly within 2 weeks after the HGH dose was lowered by 25 to 50%.

Chein and Terry chose to adopt an injection regimen, which more closely approximated the natural rhythms of normal HGH secretion. Their clinic patients were taught to self administer HGH injections subcutaneously (just below the skin), just before bedtime and upon arising 6 days per week. A weekly day of rest from injections was taken to prevent the patient’s pituitary glands from getting "lazy" and ceasing whatever HGH secretion their gland was still releasing.

A dose of 0.3 to 0.7 IU of HGH was given twice daily, for a weekly total of about 4 to 8 IU HGH.  Thus, Chein and Terry’s weekly dose was only about one quarter to one half of the dose Rudman and Papadakis gave their patients 3 times weekly.

Chein and Terry have not found any major side effects among their 800 patients. Minor joint aches and pains and slight fluid retention are the only side effects they have found, and these usually disappear in the first month or two of treatment.

Chein and Terry believe their lower dose; natural rhythm HGH protocol is responsible for the minimal incidence of severity of side effects in their patients.

Based on the results of randomly selected questionnaires from 202 patients, aged 39 to 74 (15% women), Chein and Terry reported many outstanding benefits of their low dose, high frequency HGH program.

Over 80% improved, while 72% noted significant fat loss. 60 to 70% found improvement in skin texture, thickness, elasticity and wrinkle disappearance, while 38% reported new hair growth. 55 to 71% found improved healing capacity and healing of injuries, while 73% reported increased resistance to common illness.

A high incidence of improvement in sexual functioning and menstrual/ menopausal health was noted.

Also 62% to 84% of subjects tested enjoyed substantial increase in energy levels, emotional stability, positive attitude as well as memory.