On Harley Street, doctors and their celebrity clients are hailing human growth hormone as a miracle anti-ageing treatment. But does the science back up their claims?
It sounds like the ultimate anti-ageing elixir. With purported benefits such as younger-looking skin, educed body fat and higher energy levels, human growth hormone (HGH) is being hailed as a wonder supplement. Administered orally or via injection, it has thousands of devotees in America and an increasing number in the UK, who have dubbed it “plastic surgery in a bottle”.
It is also highly controversial. Normally administered to treat conditions such as multiple sclerosis and growth problems in children, its use in injectable and oral forms as a sports performance-enhancer, body-building aid and anti-ageing supplement is widely restricted, as incorrect dosages can lead to severe bloating and even a full physical breakdown. It is not approved for these uses either in the UK or America, but this is circumvented by doctors, who are allowed to prescribe it privately to people they deem to have a deficiency. As a result, on Harley Street, these £400 prescriptions are more coveted than an Anya Hindmarch handbag, with many A-listers rumoured to be among its devotees.
“Growth hormone is controversial and we need to be cautious about it, but I do think we should keep an open mind about it,” says Dr Paul Jenkins, an endocrinologist at St Bartholomew’s hospital in London. “There’s a case for more scientific evaluation of its use in antiageing treatment.”
Used topically, the hormone is permitted in off-the-shelf creams and serums, and several pharmaceutical companies are so convinced it can help to fight ageing that they are investing millions of pounds into researching how to get the hormone into skincare products to bring it to a wider market. 3Lab’s “h” Serum, the first anti-ageing cream to contain a bioengineered version of HGH, went on sale at Selfridges five months ago and there is already a waiting list.
But what exactly is HGH? A protein-like substance, it is produced by the pituitary gland in the base of the brain. It plays a crucial role in many of the body’s metabolic processes – too little in childhood leads to stunted growth, and too little in an adult results in excess body fat, lack of lean muscle tissue, brittle bones and thin, wrinkle-prone skin.
It has long been known that production of the hormone slows down as we grow older. By the age of 60, we make half as much HGH as we did at 20. The pharmaceutical industry originally obtained it by extracting it from the brains of dead humans (a risky process that meant some batches were contaminated with CJD, the human form of “mad cow” disease), but in 1985 it was produced synthetically. Then, in 1990, a landmark clinical trial supported its antiageing effects. Dr Daniel Rudman’s study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that HGH reversed many of the biggest markers of ageing – increasing skin thickness, reducing wrinkles and body fat, and increasing muscle mass by the equivalent of 10 to 20 years, in men in their sixties and seventies.
Subsequent studies suggested HGH also boosts libido, improves mental wellbeing, increases energy levels and metabolic rate. “Nearly 20,000 clinical studies conducted around the world document the broad benefits of pharmacological HGH therapy,” says Dr Ronald Klatz of the American Academy of AntiAgeing Medicine. “With HGH, the so-called signs of ageing can be reversed.”
The supplement has become extremely popular, even though many countries (including the UK and the States) have not approved it for anti-ageing treatment because there have been no long-term studies of its side effects in healthy users. Consequently, a black-market industry has since sprung up. Nowadays, about a third of HGH prescriptions in America are ultimately for anti-ageing purposes, according to a 2005 study published in the Journal of the American Medicine Association.
“I have about 250 patients currently on HGH,” says Dr Thierry Hertoghe, a GP with an interest in endocrinology. “I’ve been taking it myself for 13 years, and it has completely changed my life. I’m now 50, but I have no wrinkles. I need two hours less sleep than I did when I was younger, and I’ve got a much more efficient memory. My body fat is 13%. Basically, HGH stops the body cells from atrophying. I believe 70% of ageing is due to lack of growth hormone.”
The anti-ageing guru Dr Cecilia Tregear of the Wimpole Skin Care Centre in London is another doctor who has taken it herself.
“The effect was amazing,” she says. “I had so much energy, and I felt as if I was on a high all the time. I took it for three years as an experiment into its safety and had no side effects from taking a low dose.”
Worryingly, however, many people are bypassing doctors and buying it over the internet. Type “HGH” into Google and the search will throw up website after website selling it illegally. Many offer it as a pill or oral spray, despite the fact that, as Jenkins explains, HGH is destroyed by digestive acids, so it only works if it is injected into the bloodstream. But there are plenty of other sites stocking it in injectable form, and that is where it becomes dangerous. “Some of these sites sell it in large dosages, and the risk is that you overload the adrenal glands, which can result in infection, illness and a complete physical breakdown,” says Tregear. “I have seen people who have been taking large doses they have bought over the internet, and they have come close to adrenal failure.” Too much HGH can also result in severe bloating and “can cause swelling in the hands, feet, nose and lips”, says Hertoghe. At the extreme end of the scale, excessive amounts of HGH can give you a prominent jaw, enlarged hands and feet, hypertension and diabetes.
Not all experts are convinced that the benefits of HGH are worth the risk of these side effects. A recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that HGH does nothing to improve life span. Another review of 31 studies at Stanford University concluded that the only real benefit of HGH supplementation was a slight increase in lean muscle mass. “The evidence that growth hormone is a proven anti-ageing agent is relatively small,” says Richard Ross, professor of endocrinology at the University of Sheffield. “Growth-hormone levels do drop after the age of 40, but, so far, nobody has proved that increasing them gets rid of wrinkles. It may have a marginal effect, but it won’t be miraculous.” Even the most committed HGH user will admit that it’s not a miracle cure. You only see the results with continued use, which means daily injections and a financial outlay of up to £20,000 a year – money down the drain if you like a glass or two of wine with your dinner, says Hertoghe, pointing out that studies have shown that just one glass of alcohol a day completely cancels the effects. “To get the best results, you should limit drinking alcohol to no more than two days a week.”
So, if injecting HGH is questionable, what about smearing it on your skin in an anti-ageing cream? HGH expert Professor Peter Sonksen of St Thomas’ hospital says it could work, but there is one big caveat. “There are growth-hormone receptors in every cell in the body,” he says, “but HGH is a large protein molecule, and I’m not sure how you would get it to pass into the skin.”
John Kressaty, the chemist and creative brain behind “h” Serum, maintains that 3Lab has invested £2.5m to produce the nanotechnology necessary to allow HGH to penetrate the skin. “These hormones travel through the dermis via the hair follicles. About 80% of the growth-hormone receptors in the skin are clustered at the base of the hair follicles,” he says. “We view it as hormone-replacement therapy for the skin. Our clinical trials were done on sun-damaged, prematurely aged skin in Australia, and we found a 100% improvement in wrinkles and skin texture.”
Although 3Lab hasn’t yet advertised in the UK, the £100 face serum and a second product, WW Eye Cream at £125 a pot, both have a word-of-mouth following and regularly sell out. “My skin has never looked so dewy,” says one user of the serum. “It just feels thicker in a way. I noticed results within two days.”
NATURAL WAYS TO BOOST YOUR HGH
— Lifestyle changes can boost HGH naturally, says anti-ageing guru Dr Cecilia Tregear of the Wimpole Skin Care Centre in London. Here’s how:
— Get 8 hours’ sleep a night. HGH production relies on getting a good night’s rest.
— Drink as little alcohol as possible.
— Eat organic protein such as red meat, chicken or fish with every meal. The amino acid lysine in protein stimulates HGH production.
— Eat as few grain-based foods as possible – get your carbs from vegetables and fruit instead.
— Avoid anything that contains sugar.
— Exercise regularly – moderate exercise stimulates HGH production, but excessive exercise has the opposite effect.
— Keep stress to a minimum, as it uses up HGH.
— Cut down your exposure to pollution and pesticides, which can affect the endocrine system
Sally Brown
