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We are all looking for the "silver bullet", "the big fix",
the "magic pill", and the way to turn lead into gold, all of
which is really about eternal youth. "How can I look fantastic without
dragging myself to the gym to lift those stupid weights or without passing
on that sixth piece of family size pizza with the thick crust, and extra
sausage and cheese?" "Why do I eat less, work out longer, and
still keep getting fat?" "Why can't I wake up one morning without
pain in every joint and muscle in my body?" "Why can't I remember
names and places like I used to?" "Why do I run out of steam
in the middle of the afternoon?"
Then in 1989, there
was a medical break through! A well-respected medical doctor, professor,
researcher, endocrinologist by the name of Donald Rudman, at the University
of Wisconsin was able to talk a group of elderly men into letting him
inject genetically engineered human growth hormone (HGH) into their bodies
for six months. He specifically instructed them not to exercise, not to
stop drinking, not to stop smoking, not to diet or change anything about
their life styles. The results were amazing. Rudman's researchers reported
gains in lean body mass, decreased body fat, and increased skin thickness.
They concluded that, "It was as if they had become 10 to 15 years
younger." All of this was published in the medical world's most prestigious
journal, the New England Journal of Medicine.
Was this the magic
bullet? We know that it is HGH that gives teenagers the capacity to consume
burgers, fries, malts, onion rings, donuts, cake, pizza, and keep right
on getting leaner, meaner and keener. It is HGH that builds lean body
mass, burns fat, and supports the immune system. It is HGH that begins
to disappear after the childbearing years at around the age of 30 to 35.
As the HGH diminishes, we are left at the mercy of all those calories
and carbohydrates that have been waiting for the chance to turn us into
defenseless, bulbous, blimps.
We also know that
the devastating effects of severely deficient HGH have been well established
in documented case histories of patients with tumors, trauma, or birth
defects of the pituitary, the brain's master gland of hormone production.
Obesity, muscle wasting, reduced immunity, and premature death characterizes
these unfortunate hormone deprived individuals.
In healthy people,
the cells that produce HGH
can continue to manufacture high levels of this valuable hormone well
beyond our most advanced years. Ah, but there is the rub. Something in
the body's internal clockwork slowly shuts down the release of HGH, like
the handle on a faucet slowly choking off the flow. Could this be the
silver mine for the magic bullets that we had all been looking for? It
was Rudman's curiosity about the effects of HGH on aging, that led to
the conclusion that of all the hormones, the singular hormone that comes
closest to reversing the aging process (the silver bullet?) is HGH.
In 1990, HGH was
used for children who failed to mature in accordance with the normal growth
curve, not adults. The FDA had not approved it for adults unless they
were severely damaged by disease, tumor or trauma. Rumor has it that if
you were a movie star or a jet set billionaire you could get HGH shots
in Europe in those days.
In late 1996, by
then the FDA approved HGH in response to the AIDs epidemic. Since AIDs
was a wasting disease and HGH was a natural anabolic steroid that could
build muscle it seemed a natural solution.
Mainstream medicine
may have shrugged off Rudman's research but a young doctor of osteopathy
by the name of Ronald Klatz saw it as a launching pad for fame, fortune,
and worldwide recognition. Teaming up with medical authoress Carol Kahn,
Klatz published his best seller, "Grow
Young With Hgh" in May of 1997. It was the book that launched
a thousand anti-aging startup medical practices.
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