---
title: "American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine"
chunk: 3/5
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:37:22.791474+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine was formed following a 1990 study on human growth hormone (hGH) that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study was performed by Daniel Rudman and colleagues at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Rudman had treated twelve men over 60 years of age with human growth hormone; after six months, these men had an increase in lean body mass and a decrease in adipose tissue mass when compared with a group of nine men who did not receive hormone.  Members of the anti-aging movement have interpreted these results to support a role for growth hormone in slowing or reversing aging. A review in The Journal of Urology noted that this promotion of growth hormone as an anti-aging remedy is "arguably similar" to ideas that date back to the late 19th century, when the physiologist Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard advocated rejuvenating hormone products prepared from animal testicles and stated that "the injections have taken 30 years off my life".
The New York Times reports that the idea that growth hormone can improve "health, energy level and sense of well-being." is a core belief of the A4M, with Klatz writing a book in 1998 entitled Grow Young with HGH: The Amazing Medically Proven Plan to Reverse Aging where he states "The 'Fountain of Youth' lies within the cells of each of us. All you need to do is release it". A 2005 review in the Journal of Endocrinological Investigation noted the long history of these ideas, but stated that the "concept of a 'hormonal fountain of youth' is predominantly mythological."  Nevertheless, Klatz maintains that growth hormone reverses aging as a physical process and has described growth hormone as "the first medically proven age-reversal therapy." However, MSNBC reports that Daniel Rudman, the author of the 1990 study that sparked the movement, "issued many caveats and cautions about using HGH and never recommended its use to delay aging. In fact, he was horrified his study was being used to support the industry especially since heavy use of growth hormone can have unwanted side effects".
The New York Times states that medical authorities not affiliated with the A4M question the safety and efficacy of the use of growth hormone in anti-aging medicine, quoting Michael Fossell of Michigan State University who stated that "hormone therapies are the new patent medicines – cure-alls embraced by a too-trusting public."  A 2003 review that was published in the Annual Review of Medicine noted that the long-term risks or benefits of this treatment are uncertain, that "neither the benefits nor the dangers have been defined" and advising that a "prudent physician should not condone the use of GH for normal aging".
As a result of the reactions to the 1990 article and its frequent citation by proponents of HGH as an anti-aging agent, in 2003 the New England Journal of Medicine published two articles that strongly and clearly stated that there was insufficient medical and scientific evidence to support use of HGH as anti-aging drug. One article was written by the Journal's then-editor in chief, Jeffrey M. Drazen, M.D. and was entitled, "Inappropriate Advertising of Dietary Supplements". It focused mostly on the advertising of dietary supplements.  The other article was written by the editor-in-chief at the time the 1990 article was published, Mary Lee Vance, M.D., and was entitled, "Can Growth Hormone Prevent Aging?"; it focused more on the medical issues around whether there was sufficient evidence to use HGH as an anti-aging agent.
A 2007 review on the use of human growth hormone as an anti-aging treatment in healthy elderly people published in the Annals of Internal Medicine concluded the risks of HGH significantly outweigh the benefits, noted soft tissue edema as a common side effect and found no evidence that the hormone prolongs life.  ABC News interviewed Hau Liu of Stanford University and lead author of the paper, who stated that people are paying thousands of dollars a year for a treatment that has not been proved to be beneficial and has many side effects.  ABC News also reported that the A4M disputed the conclusions of this review, quoting from an A4M statement which maintained that growth hormone supplementation is beneficial in healthy adults and which described arguments against the use of the hormone as a "heinous act of malpractice".
Some small studies have shown that low-dose GH treatment for adults with severe GH deficiency, such as that produced after surgical removal of the pituitary gland, produces positive changes in body composition by increasing muscle mass, decreasing fat mass, increasing bone density and muscle strength; improves cardiovascular parameters (i.e. decrease of LDL cholesterol), and improves quality of life without significant side effects. The extension of this approach to healthy elderly people is an area of current research, with a 2000 review in Hormone Research commenting that "Clearly more studies are needed before GH replacement for the elderly becomes established." and noting that "safety issues will require close scrutiny".
A 2008 review of the controversy surrounding the use of growth hormone in anti-aging medicine which published in Clinical Interventions in Aging noted the opinions of the A4M on this topic, but suggested that high levels of growth hormone might actually accelerate aging. This concern was repeated by the United States National Institute on Aging who stated in 2009 that: