1. HGH IN THE BRAIN
2. HGH AND BRAIN CELL DEATH
3. REVERSING BRAIN SHRINKAGE
4. HGH and NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE
5. HGH FOR A YOUNGER MIND SET
6. MEMORY AND COGNITION
1. HGH IN THE BRAIN (return
to top)
One of the most powerful and noticeable effects of human growth
hormone (HGH) is on the many benefits it brings the brain. It
is a known fact that there are many receptors in different parts
of the brain for HGH but how in the world can HGH get to those
receptors? HGH is such a large protein of 191 amino acids and
the brain is protected from substances floating in the blood by
a tight network of cells know as the blood brain barrier which
means it should be impossible to pass through. If somehow this
large molecule is screened through it would show up with a spinal
tap in the cerebrospinal fluid which runs from the brain after
giving patients injections of human growth hormone. When this
was done there was great surprise to discover there was a tenfold
increase in the cerebrospinal fluid of HGH after injecting patients
with HGH.
2. HGH AND BRAIN CELL DEATH
(return to top)
One of the major causes that makes cells degrade with age is the
generation of oxygen free-radicals (free-radicals are destructive
unstable particles) in all the cells that use oxygen to produce
energy. This for example, is a major factor in the cause of neurodegenerative
diseases in the brain such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other
neurodegenerative diseases. It is believed that these radicals
in turn activate destructive enzymes called proteases that damage
and degrade the protein in the cells so that eventually the cells
dies. Antioxidants like vitamin C and vitamin E can remove much
of these oxygen free radicals and keep the proteases from becoming
active. But HGH can act directly on these protease by activating
a cellular defense force called protease inhibitors which means
that though there still may be some free radicals in the cell
the protease inhibitors prevent them from doing their destructive
work. Laboratory experiments show that animals were protected
from the free radical killing effects of radiation and hyperoxia
when given growth hormone (GH). Animals were given a mixture of
98 percent oxygen which at this concentration is toxic and very
lethal over time and yet all these animals survived which were
given GH. As you age you are releasing less HGH, your immune response
is decreasing, and at the same time the amount of oxygen free
radicals is increasing. Without GH in the cell the proteases activated
by oxygen free radicals are free to tear up the cells proteins.
Evidence shows that GH also stops apoptosis, programmed cell death.
This is not caused by random events like free radicals from the
environment or oxygen free radicals but by the cell's
inner clock telling it that it is time to die. A great deal
of apoptosis takes place during aging and fetal development. In
fact the development of living organisms from a single fertilized
egg cannot occur without the planned apoptosis death of many of
the cells. Organs and the organism can only be formed as the masses
of cells are formed by apoptosis of cells just like a sculptor
chisels away at a mass of marble. Many scientists believe the
same process occurs in our later years with programmed cell death
in the brain, heart, bone marrow and else where but with the emergence
of death instead of new life. Scientists have shown that when
they introduce an apoptosis-associated protease gene into brain
cells the cells die but the cells survive when they cause them
to make protease inhibitors that block apoptosis. This indicates
that taking GHQ can stimulate cells in the brain to make protease
inhibitors and thus help stop apoptosis or programmed cell death
in the brain.
3. REVERSING BRAIN SHRINKAGE
(return to top)
Our brain reaches its largest size at age 20 when it is about
3 pounds and then begins to shrink until by age ninety it would
be 10% less in weight then its largest size at age 20. Some gerontologists
believe this shrinkage is due to the loss of 50,000 to 100,000
brain cells a day that occurs as one ages. However, experts in
the field of neuroscience like Robert Terry at the University
of California in San Diego say this loss is not that brain cells
are dying. Rather they are shrinking in a way that is causing
the dendritic connections to be lost - that is the branch like
projections that spread between the cells in every direction to
hook up with other cells. The brain cannot sprout new neurons
in the same way that the skin, blood or intestines can grow new
cells. However, the same growth factors that heal wounds and re
grow skin, muscle, collagen, blood, and other tissue also grow
peripheral dendrites and nerves. When the brain is stimulated
with growth factors, neurons can re grow dendritic connections
including other cells like glial cells which nourish the neurons.
Elderly rats who had nerve growth factor injected into their brains
were able to swim through a maze in water while the untreated
rats of the same age were not able to do so. Also, Marian Diamond,
Ph.D., professor of anatomy at the University of California at
Berkeley showed that when putting rats into a brain rich environment
with ladders, bells, wheels and other rodent goodies it caused
new dendrites to sprout to the extent that their cortex increased
by 5 percent. In essence she changed the brains of old rats into
that of young rats. Also it is known that growth hormone plays
a major role in the brains of new borns and young animals stimulating
the growth of neurons, the mesage-carrying cells of the nervous
system, and the glial cells, which support the neurons, and enlarging
the brain and the skull size. Also, tests in rats have shown it
increases the cells of the myelin sheath that insulates the central
nervous system. It is the destruction of the myelin sheath that
causes the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.
4. HGH and NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE
(return to top)
Insulin Growth Factor One (IGF-1) which is produced through HGH
and is the indicator of the level of HGH has been shown to regenerate
nerve tissue damaged by injury or illness. When applied to nerve
cells in culture and in animals it repaired peripheral nerves
such as the ones that supply the arms and legs and also the nerves
of the central nervous and spinal cord system. The progression
Lou Gehrig's disease in mice has been stopped by nerve growth
factors which are stimulated by GH which means GH is almost certainly
a candidate for this disease in humans. Also, GH is found in the
brain cells that control motor activity and this activity is impaired
in Parkinson's patients and has been normalized in dwarfed mice
that were given GH therapy. GH also helps motor activity by stimulating
the growth of myelin sheath on nerve cells which makes it a potential
treatment for multiple sclerosis. Also, some experts believe multi-hormone
treatment with GH is a very useful treatment for Alzheimer's disease.
This is because the brain which at age ninety is the size it was
when we were three can be restored through GH replacement it's
more natural form and metabolism by adding water to the tissues
and removing fat. Sam Baxas, M.D., of Baxamed Clinic in Switzerland
has been treating patients with Parkinson's Alzheimer's, Lou Gehrig's
disease and other degenerative muscular and nervous diseases for
twenty - two years (as of 1997) with cell therapy injections.
Seven years ago, Baxas added growth hormone replacement to his
regimen for those with deficient GH levels. "The combination
has been really explosive. We are healing just about everything-heart
disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis, muscle
wasting diseases, Lou Gehrig's disease (amyotrophic Lateral sclerosis),
Parkinson's, lupus erythematosus, all the auto immune diseases
you get when your immune system goes haywire. We are very successful
in treating AIDS patients. We are healing them." Baxas believes
that GH and cell therapy work by rejuvenating the cells of the
body and brain and calls them "anti-thanatopsis" which
is the Greek word for death. He says, "if you take a petri
dish with cells in it that have stopped dividing and put cell
therapy or growth hormone in there, the cells start dividing again.
With growth hormone and cell therapy, we can slow down and even
stop the aging process, even turn it back a little."
5. HGH FOR A YOUNGER MIND SET (return
to top)
HGH changes the concentrations of certain neurotransmitters (brain
chemical messengers). It raises the level of B-endorphin while
lowering dopamine. B-endorphin is responsible for the high feeling
that comes after intense exercise and has also been called the
brains own morphine. Dopamine on the other hand is known to produce
feelings of agitation which means less of it should lean to better
feelings. This clearly indicates a strong anti depressive effect
on the brain. Far more deeper than this is the fact that tests
show that children that are emotionally deprived of love fail
to grow as a result. This phenomenon is known as psycho social
growth failure and it is known that these children have lower
growth hormone levels. In other words, loving, touching, holding
and nurturing children should stimulate growth hormone levels
and cause a greater sense of well being while the opposite should
stunt their physical growth. Some patients have even said that
they found HGH more effective in relieving depression than Prozac,
a famed antidepressant. This most likely one of the main reasons
why people when they are older do not have the enthusiasm and
passion required to live life to the fullest. We become more wary
and less willing to try something new. We feel it takes too much
energy and effort and would rather stay home in front on the TV.
6. MEMORY AND COGNITION (return
to top)
According to Jan Berend Deijen and a team of Dutch scientists
at the Free University Hospital in Amsterdam growth hormone may
be especially important in memory and cognitive performance. They
studied male patients who were lacking a number of pituitary hormones
including HGH. They found a direct correlation between lower levels
of IGF-1 (Insulin Growth Factor One) which is an indication of
GHQ production and the ability to process flash information (iconic
memory), long term memory, and perceptual-motor skills such as
hand-eye coordination. In this research as well as that of others
GHQ replacement in GH-deficient adults improves cognition (our
ability to think and reason) as well as memory. In fact in children
who were GHQ deficient and were given HGH before the age of five
there was increased head size and higher IQs and better grades
at school. Also there has been notable increase in reaction times.
Some older people in their late forties have tested their reaction
time with young people in their twenties to catching a falling
ruler and found that they were twice as fast as these young people
in their early twenties
Information
in my own words taken from a book titled, "Grow Young with
HGH" (copyright 1997) by Ronald Klatz, MD
