WEDNESDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Many doctors prescribe human growth hormone (HGH) for antiaging purposes despite a largely unknown law against it, according to a report in the Oct. 26 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Thomas H. Perls, M.D., M.P.H., of Boston Medical Center, and colleagues report that thousands of physicians administer HGH for age-related problems despite amendments to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act making it illegal.
HGH can only be legally prescribed for HGH deficiency syndromes in children, adult tumor-related HGH deficiency and HIV/AIDS-related disease, the researchers note. But a September 26, 2005 Google search yielded 3,410,000 hits, many on Web sites and clinics marketing HGH. "Prescribing and administering GH has become a routine intervention in an industry that is variably called 'antiaging,' 'regenerative,' 'longevity,' or 'age-management' medicine," the authors write.
"Given the clinical concerns and the legal issues involved, we believe that physicians or other persons who currently market, distribute or administer GH to their patients for any reason other than the well-defined approved (i.e., legal) uses of the drug, should not do so," the authors conclude.
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