SeroVital-hgh for Weight Loss. Snake Oil, or something more dangerous?

[MD2BE92]

Hey guys, I just wanted to field some opinions on these types of therapies and the misleading aspects of pharma today, in general.

I've done some cursory searches and it seems like these supplements like this have not been shown to produce any real difference whatsoever in endogenous HGH levels (which was what alarmed me in the first place). However, I guess my real question is this, should we treat obesity with HGH?

Also, how where is the line drawn between making legitimate medical claims and unsubstantiated marketing ploys? Many pay some MD in their commercials because it legitimizes their evidence-poor (at best) claim, which I believe, makes the rest of the profession look bad. -I see this as kinda analogous to the 'sue for free and make loads of cash, no down payment!' commercials that most respected lawyers hate.

Sorry for the grammar, it's test week.

Tl;Dr
Fielding opinions on where advertising meets medicine, and will make our lives harder in the future.

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[Goro]

What does PubMed say on the subject?????

 

[Jorhealth33]

Exercise increases HGH levels and has a lot of other benefits as well. It's impossible to evaluate the "dietary supplement" without knowing what's in it.

Other stuff off the top of my head: HGH levels gradually decrease with age; they don't suddenly vanish. One of the first studies to set off the buzz about HGH indicated an increase in muscle mass and decrease in fat among older individuals who received injections and also exercised. There are concerns that HGH could promote the growth of cancerous cells.

 

[zero0]

Hey guys, I just wanted to field some opinions on these types of therapies and the misleading aspects of pharma today, in general.

I've done some cursory searches and it seems like these supplements like this have not been shown to produce any real difference whatsoever in endogenous HGH levels (which was what alarmed me in the first place). However, I guess my real question is this, should we treat obesity with HGH?

Also, how where is the line drawn between making legitimate medical claims and unsubstantiated marketing ploys? Many pay some MD in their commercials because it legitimizes their evidence-poor (at best) claim, which I believe, makes the rest of the profession look bad. -I see this as kinda analogous to the 'sue for free and make loads of cash, no down payment!' commercials that most respected lawyers hate.

Sorry for the grammar, it's test week.

Tl;Dr
Fielding opinions on where advertising meets medicine, and will make our lives harder in the future.

I think I remember seeing this commercial. I remember feeling the cringe as the black female doctor they paid came on, reeking of dermatology, with a pink stethoscope around her neck and everything, claiming it was a miracle cure for aging.

 

[Redpancreas]

Dietary supplements aren't regulated by the FDA and most of the stuff sold at GNC (other than creatine and BCAA's) moves on false or exaggerated promises.

As awful as it is that a few people waste their money on snake oil, its not a big deal unless you can show a public health risk from the substance. Its their money and for something like a nutritional aid that's supposed to boost HGH I see no reason for Daddy Government to come into the picture anymore than I do for the Gobblement to intervene in markets for blush and mascara.

The FDA is clearly inhibiting innovation and completely discounts Type II errors, and are probably the biggest single culprit of spiking medical costs in midst of declining life expectancy. Don't give them more power. Don't suggest at anything that gives them more power.

Philosophically I agree. I believe if someone wants to spend money on a supplement, all the FDA should be doing is ensuring that it is safe. It's up to people to make whatever decisions they want with their own money. I don't use anything other than Whey personally but if someone wants to use BCAAs, Creatine, or Dextrose to get big that should be their right.

That being said, I think there needs to be some regulation on some of the stuff I see at GNC. For example, I preworkout a sampled one day that gave me an amazing workout but when I had palpitations during sleep 12 hours later, I looked up the ingredients online and one of them under the heading of "Explosive Energy Blend" was Synephrine which is a pretty potent sympathomimetic...Combine that with 300 mg of anhydrous caffeine for the serving size of two scoops and no way is that safe for the average person to take risk free in my opinion. A good number of healthy athletes may have an ASD or be prone to arrhythmias. That supplement seems like a heart attack in a completely young adult waiting to happen.

Overall, decrease the threshold of what is deemed a public health risk but eliminate any regulations that required the FDA to prove efficacy for a drug. If anything, if the FDA were to do that, it may make people too confident in the efficacy of certain supplements and self-medicate less cautiously.

 

[cbrons]

Hey guys, I just wanted to field some opinions on these types of therapies and the misleading aspects of pharma today, in general.

I've done some cursory searches and it seems like these supplements like this have not been shown to produce any real difference whatsoever in endogenous HGH levels (which was what alarmed me in the first place). However, I guess my real question is this, should we treat obesity with HGH?

Also, how where is the line drawn between making legitimate medical claims and unsubstantiated marketing ploys? Many pay some MD in their commercials because it legitimizes their evidence-poor (at best) claim, which I believe, makes the rest of the profession look bad. -I see this as kinda analogous to the 'sue for free and make loads of cash, no down payment!' commercials that most respected lawyers hate.

Sorry for the grammar, it's test week.

Tl;Dr
Fielding opinions on where advertising meets medicine, and will make our lives harder in the future.

You said you are "fielding" questions, so that means you are answering them, not asking them.

Sent from my SM-N910P using SDN mobile

 

[MD2BE92]

You said you are "fielding" questions, so that means you are answering them, not asking them.

Sent from my SM-N910P using SDN mobile

whoops, thanks, I definitely wrote that bit without thinking. I haven't checked this since November....