growth_hormone

HealthValue

GROWTH HORMONE

Extractive Growth Hormone (from brains of human corpses) ceased in 1988, thanks to the development of recombinant Growth Hormone produced in E. coli or mammalian cells

Growth Hormone is a 191 amino acid protein, secreted by the pituitary gland, and essential for the growth of tissues.

- Pituitary dwarfism is due to its deficiency.

- Its long term excessive secretion can lead to acromegaly in adults, with enlargement of hands and feet.

The drama of "natural", extractive Growth Hormone demonstrates that it is much less dangerous to use a Recombinant protein than a "natural" one

These holes on a slide from a human brain are due to spongiform encephalopathy ( Creutzfeld-Jakob disease ), linked to infectious agents (prions) contained in Growth Hormone that used to be extracted from human cadaver pituitary glands

Dozens of children, treated for dwarfism by extractive Growth Hormone, developed years later this dramatic encephalopathy, similar to "mad cow disease".