Human growth hormone has been approved by the FDA to treat children suffering from a condition that causes them to be abnormally short. In fact, for twenty or so years artificial growth hormone has been used to treat kids who don’t produce their own HGH hormones. There are many benefits to HGH, for adults too, which can be further explored here. We will also look at the HGH side effects in children.
How Does HGH Work in Children?
There are two cycles to the human growth hormone: the direct cycle and the indirect cycle.
- The direct cycle – are the result of HGH binding its receptor on the target cells.
- The indirect cycle – during this cycle, HGH is primarily released in pulses that occur during the early phases of sleep.
The liver rapidly converts HGH to its powerful growth promoting metabolie IGF-1 or Insulin like Growth Factor – Type 1, also called Somatomedin C. IGF-1 causes the majority of the effects that are associated with HGH, which is measured in the blood to determine the HGH secretion level.
Side Effects Children Suffer
HGH injections are used to help kids grow, however they can suffer side effects which include:
- Abdominal pain
- Ear infection
- Pain
- Bloating
- Headache
- Changes in vision
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Skin rash
- Itching
- Carpel Tunnel Syndrome
- Breast enlargement
- Muscle pain
- Joint pain
- Hand swelling
- Skin rashes
- Breast enlargement
- Leg swelling
- Diabetes
- Abnormal bone growth
- Abnormal internal organ growth such as liver, kidneys, and heart
- Hardening of the arteries
- High blood pressure
Research Studies
There is a great deal of research that has been done on children.
- Endocrinologist Maurice Raben injected HGH into a dwarf child. The child began to grow normally and over the next 30 years thousands of children were injected with cadaver derived HGH.
- In 1985, a research scientist Keith Kelley, M.D. demonstrated that injections of cells that secrete high amounts of HGH could cause the shriveled thymus glands in old rats to grow until they became as large and healthy as those of younger rats.
- A study of 31 children with short stature was initiated in 1982 (Albertsson-Wikland 1986). They received subcutaneous (sc) injections of pituitary hgh. A high growth response was seen in 29 of the 31 children.
- Research proved that injections are highly effective in growth hormone children (Kastrup, Christiansen, Andersen, Orskov 1983). Sixteen growth deficient children were given high injections daily for 2 years. Growth response increased during the first year. Absence of antibodies against HGH and local reactions at the injection site is evidence of the safety of the treatment which was very well accepted by the children.
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