Somatopause is the gradual growth hormone production and secretion decline due to normal aging. The pituitary gland is the response for secreting growth hormone in humans. Throughout your life, your pituitary gland puts out growth hormones to perform critical functions in the body. However, at around age 30, the amount of growth hormone secretion in both men and women starts to decline.

This decline goes down steadily the longer adults live. When these hormones start to go down, the body experiences changes associated with cognitive performance, sexual desire, depression, other mood changes, muscle development, and more. For instance, a 70-year-old male will only generate around 60% of the growth hormone he produced at age 18. The drop in growth hormone over decades affects how we look and feel. It’s usually responsible for growing bellies, older people becoming forgetful or feeling more tired, and other symptoms of old age.

Most people know that, as they get older, it becomes harder to lose fast or work out as long. They chalk it up to getting old and accept that it’s a natural process everyone must go through. We know now that hormone therapies, when administered responsibly, can slow the effects of aging, help people maintain cognitive levels, and help with things like muscle mass.

Here’s some helpful information on somatopause and what people are doing to stem the decline of growth hormone as they age.

Somatopause Symptoms

Many people don’t know that men frequently go through a hormone disruption similar to women and menopause. With men, most of the symptoms are caused by decreased testosterone and lower growth hormone levels. Typically, a man’s testosterone levels will drop around 100 ng/dL per decade after he turns 50.

Low growth hormone is also usually associated with aging, which is what medical professionals call somatopause. Doctors and other medical professionals use various methods of increasing or maintaining growth hormone levels to prevent common symptoms that include:

  • Lower libido
  • Chronic fatigue
  • Decreased energy
  • Muscle weakness
  • Drops in cognitive performance
  • Depression
  • Higher body fat
  • Night Sweats

Memory Loss

These are just some of the symptoms of somatopause. Results and severity will, of course, vary from person to person.

Are You Going Through Somatopause?

How do you know whether you are experiencing something like fatigue or depression due to somatopause or some other external factors?

The best way to determine whether declining hormone levels cause any adverse symptoms is to get tested. Clinics perform blood tests to measure hormone levels, including testosterone, estrogen, and growth hormone. You can also take saliva and urine tests, but blood tests are the industry standard because they give you the most detailed look at what’s going on in your body.

Make an appointment with a doctor for a comprehensive blood test to determine whether hormone imbalances are causing your symptoms.

Peptides & Somatopause

There are various ways to increase growth hormone secretion and availability in the body. Peptides have gotten a lot of attention in recent years because of their potential to treat a variety of health conditions. Peptides are short chains of amino acids that trigger specific responses in the body.

One peptide named MK-677 has been shown in animal trials to halt the progression of somatopause and improve muscle and bone strength in older subjects. The research is still in its early stages, but the results are promising. Subjects given MK-677 saw significant increases in growth hormone levels and IGF-1 levels without serious adverse effects.

They saw increases in bone mineral density, lower LDL cholesterol, and higher cortisol levels. Appetite increased initially but leveled off after several months of use.

Animal research demonstrates that MK-677 is an excellent way to prevent memory decline. Young mice saw reduced neuron and synapse loss due to taking the peptide.

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