Book Review: Human Growth Hormone: Research and Clinical Practice

This book review is part of a series that covers the topic of Human Growth Hormone (HGH) . Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is a protein hormone which stimulates growth and cell reproduction in humans. Robert Bohen is the Official Guide to Human Growth Hormone (HGH) . Human Growth Hormone: Research and Clinical Practice, by Roy G. Smith and Michael O. Thorner, is a valuable resource for people interested in Growth Hormone Therapy and it is available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble .

In a state-of-the-art synthesis of basic science and clinical practice, Roy Smith and a distinguished panel of researchers and clinicians review GH regulation and its action at the molecular level, and describe the basis for GH deficiency and the use of GH as therapy in a variety of clinical situations. The clinical presentation moves beyond the treatment of GH-deficient children to include the genetics of GH-deficiency, GH-deficiency in adults, osteoporosis, Syndrome X, sleep quality, GH in AIDS patients, GHRH in clinical studies. Timely and innovative, Human Growth Hormone : Research and Clinical Practice will benefit both basic and clinical researchers, as well as those clinical endocrinologists who want to use growth hormone not only in treating children, but also in treating adult disorders, including those associated with metabolic disease.

The authors present the latest information on the clinical use of human growth hormone to treat a variety of endocrine-related disorders.

This is a summary of the basic and clinical aspects of the human growth hormone (GH). This book is designed as a summary of the basic and clinical aspects of the regulation of GH axis as well as the effects of GH in catabolic conditions and GH deficiency. It is written primarily for endocrine physiologists and pharmacologists; clinical endocrinologists may be overwhelmed by the specialized basic information and may find more up-to-date clinical reviews on GH therapy of hypopituitarism. I would particularly recommend it to the endocrine fellows embarking on a GH-related research topic -- this book will give them a good introduction into the area. This book is lacking a separate chapter on integrating the effects of discrete neurohormonal systems into a harmonic view of regulation of GH secretion in vivo. Also, the clinical part of the book is focused almost exclusively on GH deficiency. An additional chapter on acromegaly would provide a needed physiological and clinical balance. Particularly good are the basic chapters on the design of GH secretagogues, structure and function of GH receptor, and the CNS effects of GH. The chapter on interrelations between GH secretion and sleep is superb in that it is a brief but comprehensive treatment of the topic. Unfortunately, several chapters on clinical aspects of GH replacement in adult hypopituitarism are quite repetitious of earlier reviews published elsewhere. This is a good summary of some novel aspects of basic GH research. An endocrinologist needing a detailed clinical overview of GH deficiency and its therapy will be better off perusing Monson's monograph Challenges in Growth Hormone Therapy (Blackwell Sciences,Inc, 1999).