History of HGH

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The History of HGH
Many children were benefiting from the injections of HGH, but the discovery in April 1985 that some of the natural growth hormone was contaminated by a microbe that causes a fatal brain illness known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) prompted officials to stop its use. Information from National Hormone and Pituitary Program (NHPP) said:

Between 1963 and 1985, about 7,700 people received human growth hormone (hGH) made by the National Hormone and Pituitary Program (NHPP). Twenty six of them got CJD. In June 1999 when we last sent you an update, we knew of 22 people who received hGH who got CJD. Unfortunately, we learned of 4 others recently.

One has been confirmed. We are still studying the other three, but it is likely that all of these illnesses are CJD. None of those with CJD began hGH treatment after 1977, when a new purification step was added to hormone production.

People treated with hGH in other countries also got CJD:
In France, 89 people got CJD out of the 1,700 people treated with hGH. In England, 38 people got CJD out of 1,848 people treated. In New Zealand, 5 people got CJD. Two people got CJD in Holland. One person got CJD in both Brazil and Australia.

The New Zealand patients and the patient from Brazil received hormone made in the U.S., but it was not identical to hormone distributed by the NHPP. France, Britain, Holland, and Australia produced their own hormone.
References: www.niddk.nih.gov/health/endo/pubs/creutz/update.htm

In the late 1980s, the Food and Drug Administration approved Protropin and Humatrope, two synthetic forms of human growth hormone, to treat children with small stature. These drugs can boost the growth rate of children deficient in the hormone, preventing extremely short adult stature.

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