High HGH Levels: Symptoms, Causes & Potential Risks

Human Growth Hormone (HGH) promotes normal development and helps to maintain healthy organs and tissues. According to the Mayo Clinic, synthetic HGH can increase bone density and muscle mass, decrease body fat and increase the ability to perform exercise in adults who are deficient in the hormone. HGH is gaining popularity in the sports world as a performance-enhancing drug, partly because the muscle mass-increasing drug is difficult to detect. Long-term effects of high synthetic HGH may lead to an increased risk for breast, colon and prostate cancer.

Instructions

• 1

  Get your levels checked with a blood test. Your doctor can order a special HGH test to see if your symptoms may be caused by high levels of HGH. HGH is measured in ng/mL. Reference ranges differ with sex and age: Males aged zero to 6=0.10-8.80ng/mL; 7 to 17=0.03-14.90ng/mL; and 18 years and older=0.01-1.00ng/mL. Females aged zero to 6=0.10-8.80ng/mL; 7 to 17=0.06-23.80ng/mL; and 18 years and older=0.03-10.00ng/mL.

• 2

  Be aware for possible HGH side effects, such as swelling in arms and legs, and joint and muscle pain.

• 3

  Note that breast enlargement is a side effect of HGH in men, and may be an indicator that HGH levels are too high.