Human growth hormone, or HGH, is FDA approved to treat growth hormone deficiency in children and adults, according to the Human Growth Foundation. But according to a Business Week article on growth hormone scams, there also are many people who incorrectly believe HGH can stop the aging process and that athletes can use it to bulk up and compete better.

Natural Growth Hormone

The hormone your body produces to stimulate growth is a compound of 191 amino acids known as a peptide, secreted by somatotropic cells in your pituitary gland, according to a Medical University of Silesia article on growth hormone therapy. This growth hormone also is known as somatotropin.

Human Cadaver Growth Hormones

From 1960 to 1985, peptides extracted from human pituitary glands were used to treat growth hormone deficiency. Also known as NPA growth hormone, because the hormone was provided by the National Pituitary Agency (NPA), this method was discontinued because of a risk of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.

Recombinant DNA Technology

Problems with NPA Growth Hormone led to a search for artificially produced HGH with a better safety factor. Recombinant DNA was first used in 1981 to insert human genes into bacteria to create a growth hormone chemically identical to pituitary gland peptides, according to the advice-hgh.com HGH Information website.

Methionyl Growth Hormone

Methionyl growth hormone, or met-GH, the first recombinant GH product, was discontinued in the late 1990s because there were side effects. According to the somatropin.net HGH History website, met-GH had an additional methionyl amino acid that caused patients to build up antibodies, which either neutralized the effects of the drug, or caused severe allergic reactions.

Recombinant DNA

A process using recombinant DNA to insert human genes into bacteria to create rhGH, or recombinant human growth hormone, was approved in 1985. This type of growth hormone is chemically identical to pituitary gland peptides, according to the Human Growth Foundation.

Prescription Growth Hormones

Prescription human growth hormone, also known as somatropin, is marketed under the names Humatrope, Genotropin, Norditropin, Nutropin, Saizen and TevTropin, according to the Human Growth Foundation.

Source:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov: PubMed.gov: Growth Hormone Therapy

hgfound.org: Human Growth Foundation

advice-hgh.com: HGH information website

More Information:

somatropin.net: HGH History

eje-online.org: National Pituitary Agency - History

Business Week article on Growth Hormone Scams