
Originally Posted by
Ufa
retention, joint pains, and five instances of carpal tunnel symptoms, which disappeared when the dosage was lowered. Terry attributes the low incidence of side effects to the low-dose, high-frequency treatment regimen with 4 to 8 IU per week of HGH in divided doses given twice daily, in the mornings and at night, compared with 16.5 IU per week, given once every other day, in previous clinical studies. This dose, which is about one-quarter to one-half of the weekly dosage used by Dr. Rudman in his studies, is safe, well tolerated and virtually free of side effects, yet it is equally effective. Terry believes the regimen used in his study more closely mimics the normal physiologic pulsating-like pattern of HGH release.
HGH THERAPY: RISK VERSUS BENEFIT
Although HGH is a drug that can be prescribed only by a physician, it is important to remember that like many hormonal treatments, the long-term effects are unknown. Proponents of HGH stress that negative effects can occur, but generally only when the patient is taking more than the physiologic dose for a long period. Some of these effects have included carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis, high blood pressure, vocal cord thickening, excess fluid in the legs, the growth of small breasts in men (gynecomastia), osteoporosis, heat intolerance, impotence, and in supraphysiologic doses acr*****ly (the enlargement of the bones in the head, hands, and feet), and diabetes-like symptoms.
Researchers also have expressed concern over the hormone’s ability to spur cell growth and how this may promote the growth of cancerous cells present in the body. Recent case-controlled studies have found increases in the serum levels of IGF-1 in subjects who had, or who eventually developed, prostate or premenopausal breast cancers. The concern has been raised regarding its potential role as a cancer initiation factor since growth hormone increases IGF-1 levels.
In May 1998, the British medical journal The Lancet published an article that linked elevated levels of GH to a risk of breast cancer seven times higher than the risk in those with low levels of GH. The researcher, Dr. Hankinson, analyzed blood samples of women taken in 1989 to 1990 before any of them were diagnosed with the disease. Over the next five years, the level of IGF-1 was measured in the original blood samples on the 397 women who later developed breast cancer. Among the 76 premenopausal women, those with IGF-1 concentrations in the highest category had three times the risk of those with low levels. The sevenfold increase suggests that the relation between IGFI and risk of breast cancer may be greater than other established breast cancer.
Taken from Dr. Ronald Klatz & Dr. Robert Goldman "anti-aging revolution" (79)