Growth drugs don't fight aging, researchers find

The costly hormone shots can have serious side effects, according to a roundup of studies.

Human growth hormone injections do not increase life span or fitness, and have many potential adverse effects, including joint swelling and pain, carpal tunnel syndrome and a tendency toward diabetes, Stanford University researchers report today.

Compiling results from 31 separate studies in about 500 healthy adults, Dr. Hau Liu of Stanford and his colleagues at Stanford and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System conclude in the Annals of Internal Medicine that there is no rationale for the elderly to use the drug.

"You are paying a lot of money for a therapy that may have minimal or no benefit and yet has a potential for some serious side effects," Liu said.

"The appropriate conclusion is that it is premature to be using human growth hormone" to reverse the effects of aging, said Dr. S. Jay Olshansky of the University of Illinois at Chicago, who was not involved in the study. "It is also illegal."

Growth Hormone No 'Magic Bullet' for Aging

MONDAY, Jan. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Human growth hormone is being sold in increasing amounts as a cure-all for the ravages of aging, but new research shows no evidence for these claims -- and even possible dangers from the treatments.

So concludes a study from Stanford University researchers reported in the Jan. 16Annals of Internal Medicine.

Growth hormone is widely promoted on the Internet and its use as an anti-aging drug has been touted in media ranging from NBC's Today Show to Business Week.