ABSTRACT

Growth hormone (GH) is a classic anabolic hormone that promotes skeletal growth. It is secreted until late in life. Although pronounced metabolic effects of GH were well documented in both healthy and hypopituitary adults, until the second half of 1980’sGH deficiency in adult life were not considered as a clinical problem for most endocrinologists. Lately it has been observed that the cessation of GH treatment in growth retarded children after puberty resulted in various psychosocial and physical problems. In recent years, adult GH deficiency (GHD) has been acknowledged as a well defined clinical syndrome, consisting of altered body composition, impaired lipid profile, reduced muscle strength, reduced bone mineral density, and a reduced sense of psychological well-being. GHD in adult shows striking similarities with syndrome X, thus carries a high risk for cardiovascular disease. GH replacement can improve some abnormalities of body composition and metabolic perturbations as demonstrated by various studies.