History of Human Growth Hormone – HGH

HGH and the History of Growth Hormone Therapy

It may be noted that many paintings of European origin, particularly paintings of the Spanish Court, illustrate people of very short stature. It has been theorized that this may have been related to growth hormone deficiency (GHD).

Author Stephen Kemp, MD, PhD, a Professor at the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Arkansas and Arkansas Children’s Hospital mentions in his eMedicine.com that its likely “during the 1800s, General Tom Thumb and his wife, Lavinia Warren, exploited their short stature as part of the Barnum and Bailey Circus. The couple may have had GHD, although such a diagnosis was not recognized until the early 1900s.”

During the 1950s, growth hormone (GH) was isolated from the pituitaries of humans and anthropoid apes. It was discovered that it stimulated growth in children suffering of GHD. The first generation GH was derived from cadavers.

From 1958-1985, a limited supply of cadaver-derived pituitary GH was used to treat 8000 children who had GHD in the US.

In 1985, cadaver-derived pituitary GH was implicated in multiple cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) then ceased distribution of the cadaver-derived GH.

Stephen Kemp, MD, PhD states, “Since 1985, recombinant-deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-produced human GH has assured a safe and unlimited supply for uninterrupted therapy at doses adequate to restore normal growth.
GHD may be isolated (isolated GHD) or associated with other pituitary deficiencies.”

Also in 1985, a research scientist named Keith Kelly, MD, demonstrated that cells injected that secrete high amounts of growth hormones could cause the shriveled thymus glands in old rats to grow and become as large and health as those in young rats.

On Tuesday July 5th, 1990, Dr. Daniel Rudman published his human growth hormone research studies in the New England Journal of Medicine. His research demonstrated some of the potential of utilizing HGH for life extension, longevity and health.

“The overall deterioration of the body that comes with growing old is not
inevitable. We now realize that some aspects of it can be prevented or
reversed.” Daniel Rudman, M.D., New England Journal of Medicine.

To read the original submission published by Dr. Daniel Rudman in the New England Journal of Medicine, click here for Dr Rudman’s HGH Study.

To learn more about HGH and HGH Therapy including Growth Hormone Treatments, Injections and Supplements visit, HGHTherapy.com HGH.