Research

Hormonal

Growth hormone (GH) and Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) supplementation improves cardiovascular health by attenuating mitochondrial oxidative stress, upregulating antioxidant enzymes, and preserving endothelial progenitor cell function.

Maintaining healthy levels of Growth Hormone and IGF-1 is critical for heart health in aging. Deficiency in these hormones is linked to premature atherosclerosis and higher cardiovascular mortality. While extremely high levels may have other risks, low-normal levels are associated with increased heart disease risk, suggesting that preserving this hormonal axis is beneficial for vascular longevity.

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IGF-1, via upregulating antioxidant enzymes and exerting mitochondrial protective effects, significantly attenuates mitochondrial oxidative stress in aging, resulting in inhibition of endothelial activation and vascular inflammation. IGF-1 also promotes progenitor cell function, improves NO bioavailability, and limits apoptotic cell death...
Zoltán Ungvári et al. · The Journals of Gerontology Series A · 2010

Why this rating

Supported by human epidemiological data and rodent models, though human clinical trials for supplementation are noted as needing further study.

Source

Mechanisms of Vascular Aging: New Perspectives

Zoltán Ungvári et al. · The Journals of Gerontology Series A · 2010

DOI 10.1093/gerona/glq113

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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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