Can a growth hormone drug help tired muscles in overweight people?
The effects of tesamorelin on phosphocreatine recovery in obese subjects with reduced GH.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Scientists gave a drug called tesamorelin to overweight people who don’t make enough growth hormone. After 12 months, the drug boosted a hormone called IGF-I, which helped muscles recover faster after exercise — a sign of better energy production. This effect was stronger in people who got the...
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
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Evidence Score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. Considered the gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Scientists gave a drug called tesamorelin to overweight people who don’t make enough growth hormone. After 12 months, the drug boosted a hormone called IGF-I, which helped muscles recover faster after exercise — a sign of better energy production. This effect was stronger in people who got the...
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 561 / 90
Evidence Score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. Considered the gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Publication
Authors
Makimura H, Murphy CA, Feldpausch MN, Grinspoon SK
Related Content
Claims (9)
In a 12-month randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, tesamorelin improved mitochondrial oxidative capacity in obese adults with reduced growth hormone secretion, as measured by enhanced phosphocreatine recovery after exercise, with improvements strongly associated with increased IGF-I levels.
Taking tesamorelin for a year makes IGF-I levels rise much more in obese people with low growth hormone than taking a dummy pill, with a clear difference between the two groups.
When IGF-I levels go up in obese people with low growth hormone, their muscles recover energy faster after exercise, and this connection is statistically significant.
In obese people with low growth hormone taking tesamorelin, the link between higher IGF-I and better muscle energy recovery is even stronger than in the whole group of participants.
Even when accounting for factors like age, weight, and insulin levels, higher IGF-I still links to better muscle energy recovery in obese people with low growth hormone.