FREE CONSULTATION INTO INJECTABLE HGH BENEFITS

Importance of Vitamin C

What Is Vitamin C?

Vitamin C is one of the many essential nutrients that are necessary for a healthy and productive life. When you look at the Recommended Daily Value on the back of a product from the grocery store, the nutrient will be referred to as Vitamin C, but it goes by many other names as well. Vitamin C is also referred to as Ascorbic Acid, and the ingredients list on food products will always refer to vitamins and nutrients by their scientific names.

This vital vitamin is a member of group of vitamins known as Water Soluble Vitamins. When you consume these nutrients, they circulate through the blood stream and they are used as needed. If not needed as they are consumed, the body simply releases them through the urine.

What Does Vitamin C Do?

Vitamin C Builds Collagen

Vitamin C is a primary building block of a number of necessary structures in the body. Vitamin C is needed for the body to create collagen. Collagen is a protein which creates the connective tissue that holds the human body together. Mammals have high levels of collagen in their body. At least a quarter of the protein in the mammalian body is made up of collagen. Collagen is the main protein found in ligaments and tendons, and also forms the structural foundation of the skin. Finally, Collagen is found in connective tissue inside the muscles.

Vitamin C is a Vital Antioxidant

Vitamin C is also important to the body because it is one of the primary antioxidants that the body uses to protect itself from Free Radicals. Free Radicals are the byproduct of our body's ability to convert food into energy. As a result of the chemical reactions that sustain us as human beings, atoms are released as by-products, which can damage the body and lead to premature aging and increase the risk of a number of different health conditions. Free Radicals circulate through the body, reacting with cells that are going through vital processes, preventing them from accomplishing their ultimate goal of sustaining the homeostasis of the body.

Of course, we have to have energy to survive, so the production of free radicals is an inevitable aspect of the physiological processes which keep us alive. Antioxidants are the body's primary line of defense versus the damage caused by free radicals. Antioxidants are highly reactive to these free radical compounds, and benefit the body by reacting with free radicals before they can do to much damage to the cells of the body.

Vitamin C Supports the Synthesis of Other Antioxidants

In addition to Vitamin C's importance to collagen production, the nutrient also supports the healthy production of other antioxidants that the human body is able to produce on its own, such as Vitamin E and L-Carnitine. As clearly evidenced in severe Vitamin C deficiency, the nutrient also plays a role in neurological health, encouraging the synthesis of particular neurotransmitters that the brain uses to send messages to the body.

Vitamin C Helps the Body Absorb Iron

Vitamin C is also incredibly important for energy because the nutrient helps the body absorb and distribute iron through the body. This is why Vitamin C deficiency can lead directly to exhaustion and anemia.

Vitamin C Encourages Healthy Testosterone Production

The vitamin even plays a vital role in the synthesis of Testosterone, the primary male sex hormone (which is also important for women as well). If you don't consume enough Vitamin C, your body won't be able to produce Testosterone as effectively, which leads to a wide variety of health complications and significantly increases a variety of age-related complications which increase mortality risk.

What Are the Risks of Vitamin C Deficiency?

Because Vitamin C is so important to the skin, a deficiency in Vitamin C can lead to significantly decreased healing ability, because the body does not have the necessary ingredients to rebuild the skin efficiently. Severe Vitamin C deficiency leads to a condition known as Scurvy. Scurvy leads to a number of different breakdowns in normal human function.

The first symptoms are generally extreme exhaustion and malaise, and eventually the skin starts to break down, leading to open wounds if not treated for too long. It also affects neurology, leading to partial immobilization and severe depression.

What is the RDA of Vitamin C?

The Recommended Daily Allowance represents the government-suggested minimum nutrient intake needed to support the normal function of the human body. This minimum intake is dependent upon a number of factors, the most significant of which are age and gender. For adults, the following values are recommended:

Vitamin C RDA For Men Over 18: 90 Milligrams

Vitamin C RDA for Women over 18: 75 Milligrams

Vitamin C RDA for Pregnant Women: 85 Milligrams

Vitamin C RDA for Lactating Women: 120 Milligrams

It is important to note that people that engage in the vice of smoking have higher needs for Vitamin C. This is because tobacco consumption of all forms significantly increases the incidence of Free Radicals bombarding the human body, which makes the body expend existing stores of Vitamin C, both through direct depletion and because it increases the body's production of other antioxidants such as Vitamin E.

People that smoke need to intake an average of 35 milligrams more Vitamin C in order to counteract the effects of smoking.

How Much Vitamin C Can I Take Safely?

The Tolerable Upper Level Intake (abbreviated UL) represents the highest level of a nutrient that an individual can take without experiencing any significant complications as a result of overdose.

Because Vitamin C is a Water Soluble Vitamin, humans can intake high levels of the nutrient without any negative symptoms, and it is very difficult to intake toxic levels of Vitamin C. The rule of thumb for maximum consumption of Vitamin C is 2000 milligrams per day. Beyond this level, individuals will be at risk of experiencing health complications as a result of consumption.

If you take more than 2000 milligrams across the course of the day, you have a low risk of complications because water solubility means that your body is evacuating Vitamin C quicker than you are taking it in. It is vitally important to never consume more than 2000 milligrams over a short period of time, because your body needs time to release the vitamin.

The optimal level of Vitamin C production for optimal health and immune optimization appears to be around 500 milligrams per day, but as long as you take fewer than 2000 milligrams per day, the risk of experiencing any negative symptoms is exceedingly low.

What is the Difference between Water Soluble and Fat Soluble Vitamins?

Water Soluble Vitamins are not stored by the human body, and are utilized as needed while they are available in the blood stream. Because they are water soluble, the body can send excess nutrients to the kidneys where they are processed out of the body. The primary water soluble vitamins are Vitamin C and the variety of B vitamins.

Fat Soluble Vitamins, on the other hand, are taken and stored by the human body in fat cells. The most important Fat Soluble Vitamins are Vitamin D, A, E, and K. If you consume too much of these nutrients, the body will store way too much and you will experience illness as a result. If you consume an extreme amount, you can even experience major issues or even death. For example, bear meat contains toxic levels of Vitamin A because of their great size and strength. Consuming bear meat can make humans seriously ill.

What Are Common Sources of Vitamin C?

The foods with the highest concentrations of Vitamin C are fruits and vegetables. The foods with the highest levels of Vitamin C are Citrus Fruits and various forms of peppers. The most common sources of Vitamin C in the American diet are tomato juice, tomatoes, citrus fruits, and potatoes.

Other fruits and vegetables that contribute to optimal Vitamin C consumption are cantaloupe, Brussel sprouts, strawberries, broccoli, kiwi, green peppers, and red peppers.

Vitamin C is also one of the most common vitamins that you will find in fortified foods. Vitamin C is not available in any appreciable amount in natural grains, but many breakfast foods and cereals are fortified with the nutrient.

Top 5 Sources of Vitamin C Per Serving Among Common American Foods

Red Peppers 95 Milligrams

Orange Juice 93 Milligrams

Oranges 70 Milligrams

Grapefruit Juice 70 Milligrams

Kiwi 64 Milligrams

Orange Juice is Not Necessarily the Best Source for Vitamin C

There is nothing wrong with modest consumption of orange juice and other fruit juices, but many people try to get their vitamins solely through the consumption of these juices. The problem with fruit juices is that they do indeed convey high concentrations of many vital nutrients, but they are also loaded up with carbohydrate calories.

If you eat a healthy and conscientious diet, there is no real reason to consume fruit juices with high calorie content, because you will get Vitamin C most efficiently per calorie if you choose fruits and veggies with significant Vitamin C, and if you choose foods fortified with Vitamin C, there is even less reason to turn to juices to fulfill your need.

If you want to maximize your nutrient intake and minimize your caloric consumption at breakfast, drink water or black coffee and eat the fruit rather than drink the juice.

What Are Some Good Sources for Supplemental Vitamin C?

If you do choose to turn to Vitamin C supplements, there are a number of excellent options available. Studies have shown that, although some vitamins are affected by the means they are ingested, Vitamin C is absorbed effectively no matter by what means that the body intakes the calories.

Good multivitamins will generally have enough Vitamin C to provide you with an ample amount of the vitamin, especially if you intake some Vitamin C through your diet. If you are interested in taking larger doses because of the potential immune benefits, there are a number of powdered drink mixes like Emergen-C which provide a dose of around 1000 milligrams of Vitamin C while only adding a small number of calories to your diet.

Are There Any Risks Associated With Excess Vitamin C Consumption?

There are medical risks related to the over-consumption of Vitamin-C. The upper limit that can be taken with assured safety by an adult is around 2000 milligrams per day.

It is important to note that babies, children, and adolescents have a lower need for Vitamin C and achieve toxicity at lower levels. For example, children from the age of one to three should only have a maximum of 400 milligrams of Vitamin C per day.

The following are the symptoms of Vitamin C overdose:

• Vomiting

• Nausea

• Kidney stones

• Insomnia

• Heartburn

• Headache

• Diarrhea

• Bloating

• Cramps

If you consume high levels of Vitamin C in your diet, especially if only occasionally, you likely won't experience any of these symptoms, even if you consume more than 2000 milligrams over the course of the day. Vitamin C overdose generally only occurs when individuals take extremely high doses of Vitamin C all at once, overloading the body's ability to process the water soluble nutrient out of the body.

Also, because Vitamin C is an acid, extremely high consumption can have a negative effect upon the teeth, weakening and softening the enamel, especially if you don't engage in responsible oral hygiene habits.

Final Thoughts About Vitamin C

Vitamin C is an incredibly vital nutrient and it is important to get enough every day, and it is very likely that taking more than the Recommended Daily Value, even five to ten times the base recommendation, can provide some supplemental benefits.

The most important thing to recognize when trying to get your daily values of Vitamin C is that you get it from calorie-efficient sources. You can drink fortified artificial fruit juices or turn back glass after glass of orange juice to get your Vitamin C for the day, but you will also consume hundreds of calories in excess without getting other nutrients that you need in your diet.

Get your daily Vitamin C from responsible sources and leave room for other important nutrients, and you are on the road to a truly Conscientious Lifestyle!

Eighteen Tips for Extending Your Lifespan!

Everyone wants to live a long and healthy life, but there isn't just one simple and easy way to do it. Here are eighteen steps that you can take in your everyday life to help you increase the odds of seeing 80, 90, or even 100 years or more!

Safeguard Your DNA to Live Longer

Healthy DNA help us live longer in a number of different ways. Healthy DNA reduces the risk of cancer, because genetic mutations are a significant contributor to cancer risk.

In the past, many scientists believed that there was a hard limit to the length of time that human beings could live because of our telomeres. Telomeres function like aglets on your shoelaces. They keep your shoelaces from becoming frayed and ripping apart by capping the ends. Telomeres are the caps to the ends of our DNA and they function in a similar fashion.

Over time, the tips of the telomeres slowly break down, which increases the risk of health and aging conditions related to genetic breakdown. In a recent study, researchers proved that changing one's lifestyle to incorporate healthier habits seems to have the ability to increase the length of the telomeres. Further research shows that exercise and diet also have the ability to strengthen telomeres.

This means that taking the advice in this article likely will be able to improve your health even at a genetic level!

Live Conscientiously to Live Longer

An eighty year longitudinal study has shown that one of the strongest and most reliable factors which contribute to long life is a personality grounded in conscientiousness. In this lengthy study, researchers considered a large variety of personality attributes to see which factors helped people live longer, such as persistence and attention to detail.

Researchers found that one of the strongest correlations between personality and long life was conscientiousness. People that considered how the things that they did affected themselves and others were more likely to live longer because they were more likely to make thoughtful life decisions.

They were more likely to take steps to maintain and safeguard their health, and they were also more likely to choose careers and relationships that fit themselves in a healthy way. They also had more impactful and healthy relationships, and tended to be more successful in their careers.

Maintain Strong Friendships to Live Longer

There is also strong evidence that sharing your lives with others has the ability to improve your health and your life. Keeping strong connections with your friends has the ability to help you live longer, and this correlation is stronger the older that you happen to be.

An Australian study showed that elderly individuals that were active socially in fostering friendship with others were more likely to live longer than those that were not as active socially. Elderly men and women with more friends were more likely to still be alive after ten years than those with fewer friends.

A full research review of nearly 150 studies also strongly reinforces this correlation between positive social activity and longevity.

Pick Your Friends Intelligently to Live Longer

Although strong friendships may help you live longer later in life, poor friendships can also have a negative impact on your longevity throughout the lifespan. Choosing friends that make positive life and health choices makes it more likely that you will also make intelligent and proactive decisions with regard to your health.

In one series of studies in particular, there was a strong correlation found between having a friend gain weight and gaining weight yourself. If one of your friends gains a lot of weight and becomes obese, this increases your odds of becoming obese by nearly sixty percent.

People with friends that smoke are also more likely to start smoking themselves, and if you surround yourself with smokers, it also makes it much harder to quit. In this case, like many others, making positive life changes can have a positive effect on those around you. If you are actually successful in quitting smoking, it makes it more likely that others around you will quit as well, and the same goes for losing weight!

This applies to younger people in more ways. If you surround yourself with others that are taking significant risks, such as driving fast, taking drugs, or other risky behaviors, it increases your risk of early mortality significantly.

Stop Smoking to Live Longer

These days, everyone knows that smoking is bad for you, but many people keep smoking, resigned to the mistaken belief that the damage has already been done. In fact, there are strong and powerful benefits to quitting smoking, no matter how young you were when you picked up the habit or how old you were when you chose to quit.

Many people also feel that the benefit of quitting at a later age is overshadowed by the difficulty to quit, but this also appears to be a hugely mistaken belief. Researchers in Great Britain conducted a fifty-year longitudinal study which showed the benefits of smoking cessation at a variety of different ages.

They found that individuals that stopped smoking by the age of thirty lived on average ten years longer than those that continued smoking throughout their life. Those that quit at forty lived nine years longer. Those that quit at fifty lived six years longer, and those that quit at sixty lived three years longer on average.

Taking Naps Can Help Your Live Longer

In America, many people think that frequent napping is a sign of laziness, but there is strong evidence that taking naps on a regular basis does have a protective effect upon the heart. In many areas of the world, afternoon naps are an ingrained part of the culture, and scientific evidence shows that naps may be a proper and healthy aspect of day-to-day activity.

Researchers conducted a broad study, researching over 24,000 men and women. They found that, regardless of sex, individuals that napped regularly had a greater than 35% risk of dying from heart disease at a given age than those that only nap occasionally.

Scientists hypothesize that napping may strengthen the heart by reducing levels of stress hormones such as cortisol. Stress hormones are beneficial in emergency situations or over short time spans, but chronic stress wreaks all sorts of havoc on the cardiovascular system, as well as other systems of the body.

Eat Like a Mediterranean to Live Longer

The Mediterranean lifestyle has done wonders to enhance our knowledge of how diet affects lifespan and life quality. In the Mediterranean, people tend to have a diet that is high in fish, whole grains, veggies, fruits, and heart healthy oils, which helps them live longer.

A review of fifty studies including more than 500,000 men and women from the Mediterranean provided powerful evidence that this lifestyle was highly conducive with a long life. In particular, researchers found that this form of diet greatly reduces the odds of experiencing metabolic syndrome, which has a starkly negative impact on lifespan.

Metabolic Syndrome is the name for a collection of related conditions such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar, obesity, and atherosclerosis which all vastly increase the risk of diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.

Choose the Okinawan Diet

The residents of Okinawa, Japan were once recognized for living longer than anyone else on earth. Scientists have conducted a number of studies regarding the members of this culture, and found that their diet had a powerful impact on their unique ability to live longer than anyone else in the world.

Residents of Okinawa have classically followed a very traditional diet, centered around yellow and green vegetables, which contributed to their longevity. In addition to this, Okinawans naturally subsisted on restricted diets, which also appears to have extended their life spans. In Okinawa, it has long been a strong tradition to only eat eighty percent of the food served in a meal.

Recent changes in life expectancy in younger Okinawans also supports the hypothesis that diet allowed these Japanese to live longer and healthier lives. As younger Okinawans have turned away from these traditional dietary habits, they no longer live the long lives that their elders experienced.

Get Hitched to Live Longer

Being single may have its benefits, but it is not conducive to a long lifespan. On average, married couples live longer than their single cohorts. There are a number of different reasons for this, some psychological, some social.

There are many scientists that believe that the economic and interpersonal support that is necessary in a healthy marriage helps those in the marriage live longer. Anecdotally, this can be seen in couples that live long lives together and die at nearly the same time. The connection to the partner increases the desire and will to live, and once the partner is gone, this often causes the other to lose the inner strength which keeps them going.

Even in the case of those that have been widowed or divorced, a previous marriage seems to have a positive impact on mortality. Those that have been married earlier in their life also tend to live longer than those that have never been married.

Drop the Pounds to Live Longer

One of the most powerful things that you can do to help yourself live a longer, happier, and healthier life is simply to lose weight. Obesity is one of the strongest risk factors for a wide variety of health conditions. Obesity increases the risk of both Testosterone Deficiency and HGH Deficiency. It also vastly increases the likelihood of diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, and stroke.

The worst form of fat in regard to your health is known as adipose fat. Adipose fat cells are located mostly around your midsection, stomach, and thighs, and they are simultaneously the hardest form of fat to get rid of and the most dangerous to both your short-term and long-term health. A five year study of African Americans and Hispanics has shown that engaging in healthy exercise habits and consuming more fiber are two particularly strong ways to burn belly-fat.

Simply dieting can show some improvement, but studies have shown that if one diets and does not combine it with exercise, then the individual is more likely to burn muscle before fat, which reduces the benefits of dieting and can negatively impact health as muscle mass contributes strongly to positive health.

Exercise Regularly to Live Longer

Whether you are at a healthy weight or you are overweight, engaging in regular exercise can have a spectacular impact on your overall health and outlook. People that engage in healthy exercise habits clearly live longer lives than those that commit to a more sedentary lifestyle.

A multitude of studies have outlined the various benefits. Exercising on a regular basis alleviates depression, reduces cancer risk, and diminishes the risk of diabetes, stroke, and cancer. Cardiovascular exercise works out the heart and the circulatory system, and anaerobic exercise stimulates the muscles and strengthens the structural capacity of the body, defending against frailty.

There is even scientific evidence that physical activity positively impacts cognitive health as well, reducing the risk of general cognitive impairment as well as the risk of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Ideally, you should engage in moderate physical activity for at least 150 minutes each week.

Drink Moderately to Live Longer

In the not-so-distant past, many people believed that alcohol had a universally negative impact on health, but in recent decades, it is becoming more and more clear that mankind has evolved to incorporate alcohol consumption into health.

People that drink moderately are less likely to experience heart disease than others that don't drink anything. Alcohol does seem to have some anti-oxidant effects on the body when imbibed in moderation, but long-term, heavy drinking counteracts these benefits with a negative impact on liver health.

Over-consumption of alcohol can also lead to other health problems such as obesity, increased blood pressure, and cognitive decline, so it is important to be judicious with alcohol consumption. To experience the optimum benefit of alcohol consumption with the minimum risk of negative effects, the American Heart Association suggests that men should drink two alcoholic beverages per day and women should drink one per day.

This isn't to say that those that do not drink should take up the habit, however. There are a number of different ways to safeguard your heart rather than drinking, and if you aren't interested in drinking, there is no reason to start simply for your health.

Engage in Spiritual or Self-Reflective Activity to Live Longer

Research shows there is at least some link between religious activity and longevity. People that go to church or attend other forms of spiritual gathering live longer lives on average than those that have never attended church at all.

In a twelve-year research study conducted with a pool of participants older than 65, men and women that went to religious services weekly had stronger immune health than others that did not go to church at all. In addition to this, those that attended services had a much lower mortality rate than those that did not.

There are a number of hypotheses why this is true, but the strongest seems to be that religious activity fosters strong social ties that help people keep themselves going. Simply the pleasure derived from interacting and acting collectively with others has powerful physiological effects.

If you are not religious, think about participating in group meditation, yoga, or any activity which allows you to be in the company of other people that you can share experiences with. It is likely that participating and fostering a sense of community in any aspect will produce similar effects to those that are experienced by spiritual individuals in regard to health and wellness.

Forgive Others to Live Longer

Anger and grudges have been scientifically shown to have a devastating affect upon health, especially if they are held for an extended period of time. These sorts of strong, negative feelings are linked to a number of diseases and conditions which are also associated with increased stress hormone levels.

Strong and long-term bottling of anger contributes to an increased risk of stroke and heart disease, as well as reduced lung capacity and a number of other ailments. Fostering an ability to accept forgiveness has been shown to increase lung capacity, improve blood pressure, and alleviate anxiety. The older that you get, the more that these benefits will impact your overall health.

Wear Safety Equipment

Among people of all ages, accidents are the fifth highest cause of death in the United States, as well as the number one mortality risk for young people from the age of one to twenty four. The simplest way to dramatically reduce your risk of mortality caused by accidents is to wear safety equipment.

Wearing seat belts, helmets, and other safety gear will provide tremendous benefits to your overall lifespan from your first steps to your last breath, especially for younger people that are less experienced with activities like driving and more likely to engage in activities such as skateboarding and cycling which can be risky without safety gear.

If you get in a major automobile accident, simply wearing your seatbelt can reduce your risk of serious injury or death by half. In regard to bicycle and motorcycle accidents, most deaths occur as a result of traumatic head and brain injuries, and a helmet can improve your odds in an accident tremendously.

Make Sure You Get Your Sleep to Live Longer

Sleep is just as important as exercise and diet for a healthy life. Getting a full night's sleep every night can significantly drop the risk of experiencing a number of negative health conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and a variety of mood disorders.

Sleep is when your body recovers from the day's activity and reorders itself to prepare for a new day. This is also when certain important hormones are produced at their highest levels, including Testosterone and Human Growth Hormone. If you don't get enough sleep, your body doesn't maintain healthy hormone balance, and unhealthy cortisol and stress levels increase in direct relationship to poor sleeping habits.

If you sleep well, your memory and cognitive faculties remain stronger, you are more resistant to illness, and you just generally maintain a happier and more positive outlook. 5-7 hours of sleep still provides some benefits, but 8-9 are maximally optimal. Sleeping fewer than five hours, on the other hand, can actually be dangerous, and greatly increase your mortality risk while sleeping so poorly.

Keep Stress Managed to Live Longer

You may think of stress as a psychological issue that impacts your mental health, but stress is actually a physiological process which affects every aspect of your mind and body, and ideally needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible in order to improve health.

There is even research that patients with heart disease may be able to actually improve the health of their heart by working hard to alleviate their stress levels. So stress not only contributes to heart disease, but also may be a primary contributor to the condition.

Stress also makes it harder to sleep, harder to lose weight, and harder to maintain hormone balance. There are a number of effective ways to manage stress. A few physical activities that you can engage in are deep breathing, meditation, and yoga. You can also work to balance the stresses in your life with the things that sustain you in order to help you live a healthier and longer life.

Live a Life with Purpose

This ties in with a number of other suggestions that we have made today, like having a healthy marriage and engaging in valuable interpersonal activity. In order to live a long life, it seriously helps to live a life that you, personally feel is worth living for. What that means is up to you. What are your values? What makes you feel like a productive, active, and happy person?

For each human being this will be different. In one Japanese study, scientists discovered that males that had a defined sense of purpose had a much lower risk of mortality from a variety of sources, including heart disease and stroke, over thirteen years, as compared with men that self-identified with less purpose in their lives.

An American study has shown a reverse correlation between Alzheimer's and purpose. Men and women that feel that they are living a life driven by purpose are much less likely on average to experience Alzheimer's disease in their life, especially at an early age.

Can Human Growth Hormone Treat Brain Damaged Addicts?

There have been a number of studies in recent years that have provided evidence that Human Growth Hormone may produce beneficial effects in patients that are suffering from neurodegenerative diseases, but a recent study shows that HGH Injections may have the ability to alleviate neurological issues resulting from drug use. In this case, the study strongly suggests that Therapeutic Human Growth Hormone may have the ability to alleviate attention deficit and memory issues related to heroin abuse.

There is a large body of evidence that proves that the abuse of opiates such as morphine, methadone, and heroin damage the cells of the brain, and the two areas which are most profoundly impacted are the areas which control memory and attention. This new research provides convincing evidence that HGH Shots have at least some restorative effects upon these two aspects of neurological function.

How Do Heroin and Other Opiates Harm the Body?

Heroin and Opiate Abuse have the ability to harm the body and the brain in a number of different ways. Opiates, especially heroin, carry a high risk of overdose, and also have the ability to spread a number of different diseases through shared needles, such as HIV and Hepatitis.

People that regularly abuse opiates can experience a number of health conditions, including kidney and liver disease, constipation, abscesses, heart infections, and collapsed veins. They are also at enhanced risk of pneumonia, which results from both a compromised immune system and depressed breathing.

Heroin and other opiates derived on the black market also regularly contain harmful additives that can damage and clog the arteries and blood vessels, which can potentially damage a number of organs, including the lungs and the brain.

How Does the Body Process Heroin?

Heroin produces its physiological effects because when it is injected or snorted, it is circulated through the blood stream to the brain, where it is broken down into morphine, which stimulates opioid receptors in the brain and throughout the body. There are also opioid receptors in the base of the brain, which is why the drug and related drugs can cause overdose and death. Heroin depresses respiration, arousal, and blood pressure, which can lead directly to cardiac arrest.

How Do Heroin and Opiates Cause Brain Damage?

Two of the primary ways that Heroin causes brain damage is through oxygen deprivation and through the influence of toxic additives. Heroin seems to impact memory and attention span by rewiring the brain in response to addiction. The addictive capacity of Heroin and other Opioids is so strong that even after the feelings of addiction subside somewhat, the neurological effects of addiction still leave the brain wired in a way that negatively impacts psychological function.

How Can HGH Injections Protect the Brain from Brain Damage Associated with Opiate Addiction?

A Swedish study from Uppsala University explains that cells associated with attention and memory are among the first to break down when the brain is taxed by long-term opiate use. They also suggest that Bio-Identical Human Growth Hormone Injections may have the ability to salvage these damaged cells, alleviating the negative impact of Opiate and Opiate Overdose on the brain.

How Does the Body Make HGH and What Does it Do?

Human Growth Hormone is produced naturally by the pituitary gland by small organs known as Somatotrophs. HGH is largely responsible for cell replication and cell growth throughout the lifespan. During childhood and adolescence, HGH Levels in the body are high, which contribute to heightened physiological growth and development.

Later in life, HGH is secreted in lower concentrations in order to maintain health and optimal hormone balance, and there is growing evidence that HGH Injections can be beneficial in a number of disorders and physiological issues which can be treated by encouraging enhanced cellular reproduction in target areas, such as the brain or the joints. In the case of joint injuries, Human Growth Hormone encourages cartilage in the joints to develop more smoothly.

There is also evidence that Human Growth Hormone Injections can enhance rehabilitation and recovery times associated with injury and illness.

HGH Treatments Appear to Protect Brain from Damage Associated with Opiate Dependency

The researchers related to this study explain that this presents a potentially groundbreaking new way to treat patients suffering from the effects of Opiate Addiction, and may be a way to prevent brain damage in these patience and even increase psychological function through HGH Injections. This can also be used to protect the brains of patients that are taking Opioids for pain management to reduce the risk of psychological side effects and neurological deterioration.

HGH, Opiates, and Neurogenesis

Earlier studies provide strong evidence that long term Opiate Use and Addiction prevents the brain from staying healthy, because it slows down neurogenesis, or the development of new cells in the brain. Opiate Use primarily slows down neurogenesis in the area of the brain known as the Hippocampus.

This area of the brain is located in the cerebellum, and the area is strongly related with what is known as episodic memory. Episodic memory is responsible for linking people, places, and emotions to particular memories, essentially maintaining them for long-term storage.

HGH Deficiency is Also Associated with Cognitive Decline

Human Growth Hormone and other related hormones sustain neurogenesis, and HGH Decline is associated with a loss of cognitive ability as the brain can no longer create new cells and connections at the rate at which old cells and connections deteriorate. In essence, Opiate Dependence slows down the rate at which cells regenerate, causing the patient to retain memory and attention like someone many years older.

Previous Studies Show that HGH Provides Cognitive Benefits

The co-author of this neurological HGH Study, Fred Nyberg, explains that older patients treated with Bio-Identical HGH in previous studies, experienced enhanced cognitive function, and that they hypothesized that Opiate Dependent patients would experience the same quantifiable benefit.

It appears that Opiates and Human Growth Hormone have opposite impacts on the brain. Opiates limit the brain's ability to restore itself, even after the patient has stopped using the drugs. Human Growth Hormone Injections appear to counteract that negative neurological impact, allowing people currently taking Opiates for clinical reasons to avoid the related neurological decline, and perhaps restoring neurological function to individuals that are recovering from a previous addiction.

In Vitro Lab Testing Proves that HGH Protects the Brain from Morphine

The way that the researchers demonstrated the possible effectiveness of this form of treatment was through in vitro testing. They used partially developed nerve cells drawn from the fetus of a mouse and isolated them in a petri dish. To mimic the effects of opiate addiction on nerve cells, they dipped the cells into a bath of pure morphine for seven days. Control neurons were simply dipped in morphine, but experimental cells were also treated with Bio-Identical Human Growth Hormone.

In the end, they found that the neurons in the control sample started to die from morphine exposure, but those in the culture with Human Growth Hormone added were able to survive in spite of the morphine. In certain cases, the number of neurons actually increased among cultures in the experimental group!

Nyberg is optimistic, explaining that if Human Growth Hormone Injections have a similar effect on neurons in the brain as they do on brain cells in the petri dish, the hormone may end up being an effective medical treatment to preserve the mental faculties of both ex-opiate addicts and those suffering from chronic pain which only responds to morphine and similar drugs.

Pilot Studies Have Begun in the Treatment of an Opiate Dependent Patient

Since the original study was published, Nyberg and his associates have begun experimental HGH Injection Therapy on a single pilot patient. This patient takes opiates for chronic pain and is suffering from memory issues directly resulting from Opiate Treatment.

Although this pilot study is still ongoing, Nyberg explains that the results achieved thus far are incredibly promising. The pilot patient has been taking HGH Injections with no major side effects, and is experiencing a quantifiable increase in cognitive memory ability.

The results are actually so promising, that Nyberg is already preparing to take HGH for Opiate Addiction to a clinical trial, in order to assess the potential of the treatment more completely. All signs thus far suggest that Growth Hormone Therapy will be effective at safeguarding the Hippocampus from the neuro-degenerative effects of powerful opiates.

HGH Injections Could Possibly Alleviate Neurological Dependency Associated with Drug Addiction

A representative of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Frank Vocci, is interested in the potential to use Bio-Identical Human Growth Hormone as a treatment for drug addiction. There have been legitimate arguments made that the benefits to cognitive function produced by Human Growth Hormone could potentially have the ability to make it easier for current addicts to quit addictive drugs, and that it may help those that are already clean stay clean.

Research regarding the potential of Human Growth Hormone to combat addiction is still in a purely hypothetical stage, and there is no hard evidence supporting the use of HGH Injections for Addiction Recovery.