StemCell Therapy

Complementary Effects of hGH and Sermorelin in Management of the Somatopause

Human Growth Hormone (hGH) replacement therapy (GHRT) has been used by Anti-Aging physicians for over a decade as the primary approach to managing the Somatopause. The reason for this choice is that pituitary dysfunction resulting in acquired or adult-onset growth hormone deficiency (GHD) is perhaps the earliest event of senescence, occurring in most people during their thirties. Progressive failure of the pituitary to produce and secrete hGH initiates a cascade of endocrine failures that contributes significantly to loss of health and vitality during aging. Logically, GHRT is intended to replace hGH and so as to oppose consequences of the somatopause. It is successful for that purpose and is effective for:

The usual protocol to achieve these benefits of hGH directs patients to self inject s.c. from 1 2 international units of hGH daily after diagnosis of GHD. It is important to note that hGH cannot be legally prescribed without such diagnosis resulting from evaluation of laboratory date (IGF-1 concentrations), clinical symptoms and a provocative test of pituitary function. Once these criteria are met, then hGH is commonly administered once daily in the evening or morning. The former time was chosen to simulate the nocturnal, sleep related rise in hGH. The latter time was chosen by those physicians who realized that sleep causes the rise in hGH not the reciprocal. Thus, there was little rationale for administering hGH at bedtime. In fact, others felt that injecting growth hormone at night to raise the serum level of growth hormone precisely during the time the pituitary is scheduled to become active would have a negative effect. This high serum level of growth hormone from the injection would have the potential to suppress natural pituitary function by negative feedback. Then not only would the patient lose benefit of endogenous growth hormone, but he/she would also run the risk of suppressing pituitary function and exacerbating the effect of normal aging. Therefore, the consensus is to inject hGH after awakening in the morning so as not to suppress the pituitary. Hypothetically, by the time the pituitary is ready again for its nighttime activity, the hGH given in the morning injection will have been completely metabolized, thereby minimizing the risk of pituitary feedback suppression. Furthermore, to compensate for feedback of hGH upon the pituitary and thereby worsening the effects of aging upon the pituitary, some doctors recommend not taking hGH two or three days a week so that the pituitary gland doesn't forget how to make its own HGH. In fact, aging is already eroding pituitary function and it will not be restored except by providing appropriate stimuli.

Accordingly, an analog of growth hormone releasing factor has recently come available for use in anti-aging medicine that can be used alone or as a complement to hGH in clinical management of the Somatopause. One major advantage of the product is that unlike hGH, it can be prescribed off label legally without diagnosis of GHD. Sermorelin is an alternative to hGH that is safer and more effective than hGH. It is a truncated analog of growth hormone releasing hormone or factor (GRF 1-44) that is naturally produced by the brain to simulate pituitary production and secretion of hGH. The natural brain hormone contains 44 amino acids whereas Sermorelin consists of the first 29 amino acids of GRF, which are the ones responsible for its pituitary stimulating activity. Thus, it is designated GRF 1-29NH 2 . Since Sermorelin stimulates the pituitary gland to produce and secrete its own hGH, side effects associated with overdosing of this hormone are significantly reduced. The reason that Sermorelin has a lower risk of causing side effects than injected hGH, is because the brain automatically prevents too much of the bodies own hGH from being released by the pituitary gland through feedback processes involving the inhibitory factor, somatostatin. Furthermore, age effects on pituitary degeneration are not exacerbated. Instead they are opposed because stimulation sustains life of functional somatotrophs (the cells that produce hGH) and slows the cascade of pituitary failure that affects the reproductive, thyroid and adrenocorticotrophic axes. As a result, sermorelin may be used alone to oppose the somatopause or in combination with hGH to sustain pituitary function while patients enjoy the benefits of increased exposure to somatotrophin. Furthermore, GRF not hGH is the factor that promotes youthful sleep architecture, i.e., increased slow wave sleep. Therefore its use may have ancillary clinical benefits of improving nighttime rejuvenation through good sleep. Accordingly, the following protocols for use of sermorelin alone or in combination with hGH are as follows:

No matter what protocol is chosen by the physician, sermorelin should be included as part of the program to oppose the somatopause because it preserves higher function and also delays failure of other neuroendocrine axes that follow the somatopause, i.e., the menopause, andropause, thyropause and adrenopause. For more information on this important and novel approach to treating the Somatopause, use the contact us tab provided at http://www.sermorelin.com or send a request to Dr. Richard F. Walker ( drrfwalker@sermorelin.com ).

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Sermorelin - Official Sermorelin Organization

This entry was posted on June 5, 2015 at 8:40 am and is filed under Sermorelin Doctors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |