In Other Journals

Growth hormone (GH) is unlikely to be useful as an anti-ageing therapy in the healthy elderly, according to a US-based systematic review. Use of GH as an anti-ageing agent is widespread, due to reports in the mainstream and medical literature, but after conducting a systematic analysis, researchers concluded that the practice is not supported by the evidence base. Although people using GH show changes in body composition, such as increased lean body mass and decreased fat mass, those treated with GH experience adverse events such as soft tissue oedema, carpal tunnel syndrome, and gynaecomastia at significantly higher rates. The researchers acknowledged the limitations in the review, including the lack of robust, large, randomised controlled trials studying the effects of GH in this population, but concluded that “GH cannot be recommended for use among the healthy elderly”.