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Pill Helps Elderly Bulk Up

Eric Bland, Discovery News

The beauty of MK-677, says Thorner, is that it's hard to abuse by those looking for an unnatural physical edge. MK-677 tops off what the body can naturally produce. If too much growth hormone is being produced the body senses it and shuts down production.

"This just restores levels back to what they were as a young adult," said Thorner. "It's impossible to overdose on it."

Other studies have shown that functional muscle mass in young patients who don't produce enough HGH naturally do have improve functional muscle mass, but it takes at least two years before a measurable effect is created.

Muscle mass, whether functional or not, wasn't the only effect of the drug. MK-677 also increases appetite, an additional benefit for older patients who tend to eat less as they age.

"One guy described it like he was a teenager again," said Thorner. "He went down to the freezer in the middle of the night and ate a quart of ice cream."

Patients on the drug also showed a slight increase in fasting blood glucose and were less sensitive to insulin, although these results were clinically insignificant. Bone density also decreased but was also clinically insignificant. Thorner expects, and other studies back him up, that longer use of MK-677 would create stronger bones than not taking the drug.

One limitation of the research for clinical purposes was that it was done in healthy adults, a point that Marc Blackman, a doctor and professor of medicine at John Hopkins' University made clear, and that Thorner agrees with.

Before the drug can be approved for older patients, or younger patients who don't produce enough growth hormone, more testing in unhealthy patients, the patients who would benefit most from MK-677, are needed.

"This is very exciting research," said Marc Blackman, a professor of medicine at John Hopkins' University who reviewed the research. "But it's not ready for clinical practice, it's not ready for prime time yet."

Related Links:

How Stuff Works: Human Growth Hormone

MK-677, an Orally Active Growth Hormone

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