HGH Benefits for Healing
From surgeries to injuries, human growth hormone has demonstrated superior healing abilities. Not only is there a physical toll on the body at this times, but there are mental and emotional challenges to overcome, especially if you are unable to work and are on painkillers. The longer a person is bedridden, the greater the chance of developing muscle atrophy.
That is why the way that HGH can activate a critical gene (Foxm1b) in the body that promotes tissue healing and regeneration is vital to understand, says Robert Costa, a University of Illinois at Chicago professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics in a 2003 Science Daily report. In this report, growth hormone was shown to work at a molecular level, stimulating cells to divide and multiply.
Medical research is looking into the HGH benefits for healing in part because of the following issues that patients undergoing surgery or injury recovery often face:
- Sleep deprivation
- Muscle atrophy
- Muscular stiffness
- Increased stress
- Emotional distress
- Severe pain
- Narcotic abuse
- Slow rehabilitation
- Weight gain
- Social isolation
While not all of the above issues are physical in nature, they can have quite an adverse effect on an individual faced with a long recovery process. The older a person is, the lower his or her level of growth hormone in the body, which can lengthen the recuperation period.
HGH and Injury Healing
One of the largest studies to date for how HGH helps heal injuries is taking place at this time at the University of Michigan, thanks to funding from Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks. HGH has gotten a bad rap as a performance enhancing drug due to illegal use by some athletes. Current research has shown that HGH does not promote increased strength or performance in healthy adults with normal growth hormone levels.
The difference comes when doctors prescribe the use of growth hormone for injury recovery. Some documented benefits of HGH for injury healing include:
- Protecting ligaments and tendons
- Preventing muscle mass degradation
- Speeding healing and recovery time
- Promoted connective tissue regrowth
- Prevention of osteoarthritis
HGH healing properties for recent ACL tears are undergoing research in 50 men between the ages of 18 and 35 at the University, with results expected by the end of 2017. Because HGH stimulates cell growth and regeneration, the outcome of this double-blind clinical study is optimistic. The results will compare the differences between those individuals who received HGH with the ones who received the placebo.
Illness, Surgery, and HGH
A 1999 study reported in the Annals of Surgery looked at the effects of HGH for recovery after surgery for 24 younger patients undergoing ileoanal J-pouch surgery for ulcerative colitis. In this randomized study, patients received either 12 IU of HGH a day or a placebo starting two days before surgery and continuing for seven days following surgery. Measurements took place two days before the surgical procedure, and then at ten, thirty, and ninety days post op.
The HGH benefits for healing after surgery showed the following results:
- A 7.6% reduction in total muscle strength of the four tested limb muscle groups on post op day ten in the HGH treated group compared to a 17.1% reduction in those who received the placebo.
- Day ninety showed that those individuals who received HGH therapy had a return of muscle strength equivalent to their baseline values, while the placebo group still showed 5.9% below baseline.
- While both the HGH and placebo groups were equally fatigued ten days following surgery, by the thirty and ninety-day marks, those who underwent HGH treatment had less fatigue than the individuals who received the placebo.
- Finally, those receiving HGH regained more lean tissue mass than the placebo group.
When it comes to recovery from an illness, the health benefits of HGH therapy are numerous, including:
- Increased production of interleukin2 and T-cells
- Improved manufacturing of new antibodies
- Increased maturation of neutrophils
- Stimulation of bacteria fighting macrophages
- Enhanced production of white and red blood cells
- Reduction in cortisol – the body’s stress hormone
For additional information on how HGH therapy can help you heal from an injury or illness, contact HT Medical Center for a confidential consultation with a hormone specialist at no cost or obligation.