GHRPs- a real ‘oral’ alternative to GH injections

Ever since Dr. Rudman’s work in the 1980s and then the release of Dr. Klatz’s book ‘grow young with HGH’ in the 1990s, there has been a strong interest in the use of growth hormone (GH) in antiaging medicine.

Dr. Rudman’s research concluded that after injecting his elderly patients with GH, many of them had reversals of their biological age markers by as much as 20-years; specifically having noted improved skin, hair, muscle mass, decreased fat levels and enhanced levels of stamina, strength and well-being.

It’s not entirely surprising given the multi-faceted role of growth hormone, plus as its name suggests it is involved in the growth and repair of tissues, but unfortunately blood levels of it decline dramatically past the age of 35, despite the fact that there is evidence that the pituitary gland continues making significant amounts of it.

 

GH injections

The issue with injecting GH, (brand names include Genotropin®, Saizen® and Zomacton®), other than its expense, is that it does have to be injected to be effective, this is because as a 191 chain amino-acid it simply can’t be absorbed via any other route, thus daily injections can become a chore.

Furthermore, many countries have decided that GH injections be classified as a controlled substance, partly because of its anabolic actions. Controlled substances often require special import and export licenses; this is over-and-above the requirement for a prescription.

Furthermore, the research of Dr. Richard Walker has highlighted that bolus injections of GH are not bioidentical and that as they induce spikes of GH into the blood they could end up damaging the pituitary gland, leading to a down-regulation of its own production of GH, or even to stop GH production altogether.

 

GHRPs

But meanwhile, Dr. Walker’s research has shown that the use of GHRPs, (growth hormone releasing peptides) have a much safer profile whilst enjoying the same benefits- even if they provide them a little more slowly. We would recommend that you read his extensive article in the Aging Matters™ magazine, No3, 2014 to understand fully how they operate. What we can say is that GHRPs, (GHRP2, GHRP6 and sermorelin) have the following benefits:

• They can be sublingually, intra-nasally and even orally, passing into blood and thus avoiding the need for needles.
• Their feedback loop means that they cannot cause the pituitary to down-regulate.
• GHRPs are not controlled substances.
• Rather than inducing a spike of GH in the blood, GHRPs augment (improve) each release of GH naturally into the blood, for which there are several peaks daily, (although the rising from bed peak is the highest one).

 

Synergy

Sermorelin is actually the precursor to GH, being the first 29 amino acids and is applied via the sublingual route. Sermorelin’s function may be to release existing stores of GH from the pituitary- rather than encourage more production as a pure agonist would. Dr. Walker has highlighted that combining sermorelin with GHRP2 or GHRP6 has a highly synergistic effect, in some cases eliciting up to a 5x greater quantity of GH into blood, an action that can be equivocated to using injectable GH itself.

Note: You can also hear Dr. Walker discuss this with us on the IAS video page.

 

Differences

There is no definitive answer yet as to the specific differences between GHRP2 and GHRP6; our own experiences, including information received from physicians and patients who use these products suggests the following:

• GHRP6 may induce more hunger feelings than GHRP2 and could improve levels of IGF-1 more. Therefore this option may be better recommend for those who want to put on muscle mass.
• GHRP2 may create less hunger feelings and therefore could be preferable to those who want to stimulate GH for fat loss. Also as the GHRP6 (Releasing-Pro™) is a nasal spray, those who don’t like that feeling may prefer GHRP2-Pro™ since it is an oral liquid simply swallowed.

 

Summary

GHRPs have created a genuine efficacious alternative; they are simpler/ easier to use and at the same time they have a better/ safer profile than injectable GH.