Does Growth Hormone Deficiency Shorten Your Lifespan?

• A growth hormone deficiency (GHD) can have a severe impact on the quality of your life, but it does not necessarily effect your lifespan.
• Untreated GHD can lead to complications such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes, which can increase your risk if dying young.
• Growth hormone injections are not a cure for growth hormone deficiency, but can keep it well managed, and help you live a full, active and productive life.

Growth hormone is vital for the normal growth of a child to an adult. Growth hormone continues to play a vital role in health and fitness throughout your adult life. Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) is the medical condition where your body does not produce enough growth hormone. Growth hormone deficiency in children can have a major impact on their ability to grow to normal stature. Growth hormone deficiency in adults can have a number of negative impacts on health and wellness, such as:

• Increased fat
• Decreased strength
• Decreased muscle tone
• Weakness
• Fatigue
• Depression
• Cognitive difficulties
• Memory loss
• Sexual wellness issues

Generally speaking, having a growth hormone deficiency does not necessarily mean you are at risk of a shorte lifespan, particularly if you obtain treatment for GHD.

Does Growth Hormone Deficiency Shorten Life Expectancy?

If you look at the above list of symptoms, they can all have a severe impact on the quality of your life, yet none of them appear to be fatal. That is true, and generally speaking, having a growth hormone deficiency does not necessarily mean you are at greater risk of dying young, particularly if you obtain treatment for GHD.

But, let’s take another look at those known negative impacts of growth hormone deficiency in adults. One of the main negative effects of low levels of human growth hormone (HGH) is on body composition. Lack of HGH inhibits your ability to build muscle. It also slows your metabolism, so that you cannot burn fat as efficiently. Those two impacts alone, can, and often do, lead to obesity. Obesity, along with some of the other problems of adult GHD, can lead to metabolic syndrome, which is a combination of disorders that together can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and liver disease. Cardiovascular disease, diabetes and the other conditions that can result from metabolic syndrome, certainly can shorten your lifespan. Therefore, in this respect, untreated growth hormone deficiency in adults, can contribute to increased risk of mortality. However, the good news is, that GHD in adults is treatable, and proper treatment for growth hormone deficiency can not only decrease you risk of cardiovascular disease, it may even help you to live longer!

Lack of HGH inhibits your ability to build muscle. It also slows your metabolism, so that you cannot burn fat as efficiently. Those two impacts alone, can, and often do, lead to obesity, which can result in a shorter lifespan.

How Is Growth Hormone Deficiency Treated for the Long Term?

The safest and most effective treatment for growth hormone deficiency in adults is growth hormone therapy. Growth hormone therapy is prescribed as growth hormone injections. Growth hormone injections are not a cure for growth hormone deficiency, but can keep it well managed. The same way that people with diabetes can take insulin shots to make up for the insulin that their bodies can no longer make on their own, growth hormone injections can make up for the HGH that your body is not making enough of.

Most adults with GHD are suffering from the decrease in HGH production that occurs as you age. By keeping your HGH at more youthful levels, growth hormone therapy leads to:

• Decreased body fat
• Increased lean muscles
• Improved sleep
• Tighter skin
• Improved memory and cognitive function
• More productive workouts and quicker recovery after exercise

Growth hormone therapy works, not because you are pumping someone up to superhuman levels beyond what is normal, but simply because you are returning him or her to his or her particular peak level, before HGH started to decline.

Can Growth Hormone Therapy Increase Your Lifespan?

Growth hormone therapy can help you lose weight, become more fit, and to some degree even reduce stress. These effects alone can combine to add some years to your life. However, growth hormone therapy, is not really designed to lengthen lives, as much as it is to help you get more out of life.

Since growth hormone therapy is designed to be individualized, and return you to your particular peak performance level, naturally it will work differently for each person taking growth hormone.

In other words, if you were basically a healthy, active person, who enjoyed moderate physical activity in your 20s, taking growth hormone in your 50s, will not turn you into an Ironman Triathlete, but, it will probably allow you to get back into doing the things you loved to do when you were younger. There are many benefits of growth hormone replacement therapy. Some of the many benefits of growth hormone therapy for adults with GHD include:

• Increased strength
• Increased stamina
• More energy
• Improved sexual function
• Improved memory and cognition
• Better sleep
• Better moods
• Increased ability to burn fat and build muscle
• Healthier skin and bones

Do I Have to Continue HGH Therapy for the Rest of My Life?

Growth hormone therapy does not technically “cure” growth hormone deficiency, but you can expect long lasting results from HGH replacement. Once you start growth hormone replacement therapy, that does not mean that you will have to stay on it for the rest of your life. Since growth hormone therapy is prescribed for your unique needs and lifestyle, benefits will vary. Most people receive the full benefits of HGH replacement therapy within about six months.

Once you have been on HGH replacement therapy for three months or more, you will start seeing some drastic improvements in your body, and your physical fitness. Your belly fat will drop, your muscles will grow and tighten, and you will feel more agile in both mind and body.

What Are Some of the Lifelong Benefits of Growth Hormone Therapy?

For most patients, after you have completed six months of growth hormone therapy, your body will have undergone almost a complete transformation.

• You will be stronger.
• You will be leaner.
• You will be able to accomplish physical and mental tasks, more like you could when you were younger.

Your overall stamina and vitality will improve, as will your outlook on life. These effects, when augmented by a program of diet, fitness and exercise, should last long after you have competed your growth hormone therapy.

The key is — you will be in control. How long your particular positive effects of growth hormone therapy will last, will largely be in your own hands. Many people will use the increased energy and strength they have received from growth hormone therapy, to become more active and to exercise more often. For such people, keeping up with the improvements made by HGH therapy, will certainly last. Others may choose to continue the strides they have made by continuing on a low dose or with intermittent growth hormone injections. Still, there may be others, that despite being given the gift of a “new life” from growth hormone therapy, who will allow themselves to slip back into old habits, which can destroy their results. How long your results last, is largely up to you.

We cannot guarantee that growth hormone therapy will add years to your life, but it certainly can add more life to your years, if you continue with good habits after treatment.

How Do I Get the Best Growth Hormone Treatment?

Growth hormone therapy does improve the lives of adults with GHD. Everybody can achieve some level of positive results from growth hormone therapy. However, not all doctors who provide growth hormone therapy are alike.

As we have been saying, each person, man or woman, seeking growth hormone therapy, is different. If you want your growth hormone therapy to work, you want to work with a practitioner who truly understands this, and will tailor your growth hormone therapy to your unique symptoms, goals, and lifestyle.

Beyond that, you want to work with someone who is experienced, and has a proven track record in understanding the unique needs of patients with adult onset, or age-related growth hormone deficiency. When seeking a doctor to provide you with growth hormone therapy, ask questions. You’ll want to know:

• How long have you been providing growth hormone therapy?
• Do you have patient reviews or testimonials I can see?
• Do you guarantee results?
• What kind of hormones do you use?
• What other age-management services do you provide in addition to growth hormone therapy?

Growth Hormone Therapy for Life

If you want to get the most out of your growth hormone therapy, you also want to work with a clinic that makes you feel important and special from the moment you walk through the doors. That is the kind of personal touch you will find in every aspect of our clinic.

You will always feel like a person, never like a number, and you will find all of our doctors and staff to be active listeners, who really want to get to know you as a person, so that we may develop the most effective growth hormone therapy for your life!

The safest and most effective treatment for growth hormone deficiency in adults is growth hormone therapy. Growth hormone therapy is prescribed as growth hormone injections. Growth hormone injections are not a cure for growth hormone deficiency, but can keep it well managed.

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