Older men / blood tests over a short trial
Sermorelin growth hormone tests rose; health over years was not tested.
Sermorelin has been tested as a drug to raise older men's hormones. This page explains their blood tests and how long researchers watched. You won't find proof that younger-looking blood readings mean slower aging.
What the brief Sermorelin trial changed with age
Sermorelin was tested to raise hormone levels that fall in later life. This page explains what rose and what the trial left open. Aging reduces the brain's call for growth hormone release. Your liver also makes less insulin-like growth factor, a hormone that helps cells grow. After two weeks of shots, healthy older men showed increases in both hormones. Researchers measured growth hormone throughout a 24-hour day. Both insulin-like growth factor and growth hormone reached younger men's levels.
The trial measured hormones, rather than how well the men aged. Researchers would need to follow older people for longer and measure strength, health, and daily life before higher hormone readings could promise a lasting benefit for you.
How older men responded to the two study amounts
The men averaged 68 years of age and had higher hormones after sermorelin. Researchers compared 0.5 milligrams of the drug with 1 milligram. A milligram is a thousandth of a gram. Each amount was given twice daily for 14 days, through shots beneath the skin. Researchers measured growth hormone across a 24-hour day. Researchers also measured insulin-like growth factor, the hormone your liver makes after growth hormone rises. Both increased more with the larger drug amount. After that higher amount, the men's readings matched younger men's readings. Blood sugar tested after going without food didn't change [5]. These were amounts used to answer a study question.
The trial lasted only 14 days. Researchers couldn't tell from those blood tests whether the men would stay stronger, feel better, or have fewer illnesses in the years ahead, because the trial followed hormones so briefly. A 2025 review discusses sermorelin alongside other hormone-raising drugs [6]. Another review, from 2023, asks about restoring hormone release to younger adults' levels [7]. A further 2025 review examines growth hormone and treatments aimed at aging [8].
Those reviews consider possible gains; they don't prove those gains for you.
Which Sermorelin benefits belong to which patients
Children whose growth hormone fell short gained height with sermorelin. Their height gain each year went from about 4.1 centimeters to roughly 7-8 centimeters [2]. Older men had increased insulin-like growth factor and growth hormone [5]. Insulin-like growth factor is a hormone that helps cells grow. Those results concern different people and different measurements. Neither result proves better health in your later years.
Adults given tesamorelin in another trial lasting 20 weeks had a rise of 117% in insulin-like growth factor, with the higher reading still falling within the usual range for that hormone. Fat made up less of their body weight afterward [10]. A lower share of fat doesn't tell you the pounds lost. Tesamorelin was the tested drug, so the finding belongs to tesamorelin.
An opinion in Annals of Internal Medicine said there wasn't enough proof to treat aging with these hormone-raising drugs [9]. Lasting adult health gains need more than higher blood readings.
What pharmacy-made Sermorelin has and has not been approved for
FDA approval once covered a factory-made sermorelin medicine for children's growth problems. The FDA reviews medicines in the US. The approved uses concerned childhood growth problems and a shortage of growth hormone. The manufacturer ended US sales in 2008 for business reasons. The withdrawal didn't follow a finding of harm or failed treatment. That packaged medicine is no longer sold. Licensed pharmacies now make sermorelin for individual prescriptions. FDA uses the name Category 1 for this listing: the ingredient is included in a temporary policy for pharmacies. The pharmacy still must meet the rules for patient prescriptions and germ-free shots. The final guidance dates from January 2025.
Your pharmacy's prescription isn't FDA-approved just because the ingredient is listed.
WADA sets rules on banned drugs in sport and prohibits these growth hormone drugs in sports that follow those rules. A sports ban doesn't answer whether sermorelin helps an older person's health. The brief trial found raised hormones in older men [5]. An opinion in Annals of Internal Medicine called for stronger evidence before treating aging [9].
Being allowed to make a medicine doesn't prove the medicine helps adults.
How soon Sermorelin changed hormone readings
Growth hormone rose within an hour after a study dose. The rise lasted roughly 3 hours. Half of sermorelin left blood within 10-12 minutes [3]. Repeated shots changed insulin-like growth factor over weeks in older men [5]. That hormone is made by the liver after growth hormone rises.
The trial didn't prove fat loss or establish when you might feel better.
What the liver made after Sermorelin raised growth hormone
After 14 days of sermorelin shots, healthy older men had higher insulin-like growth factor. This hormone is produced by the liver to help cells grow. Giving more sermorelin brought a larger rise. After the larger amount, the readings matched younger men's levels. Blood sugar checked after going without food remained steady [5].
Growth hormone prompted the liver's response. These measurements didn't test whether your health or well-being would improve.
What the Sermorelin follow-up could and could not cover
The older men's trial measured hormones for 14 days. Insulin-like growth factor and growth hormone, a hormone that helps cells grow, both rose [5]. The children's study measured growth through 12 months of treatment [2].
Adult results over years remain unknown. Neither trial sets a treatment length for aging, nor proves that such treatment would improve your health [9].
What the fat trial actually tested instead of Sermorelin
Adults had a lower share of body fat after 20 weeks with tesamorelin [10]. The trial measured thinking as well. Those people received tesamorelin, rather than sermorelin. A review considers raising growth hormone as a possible response to aging [11].
A claim that sermorelin reduces your fat still needs direct testing.
What Sermorelin might change about age-related muscle loss
A review considers raising growth hormone to address muscle loss in older people [11]. Sermorelin raises insulin-like growth factor and growth hormone, a hormone that supports tissue growth. That action gives scientists a reason to investigate muscle loss.
Few strong adult trials have measured muscle gains. You can't count on sermorelin to increase muscle size or strength.
How measured Sermorelin changes differ from a promised result
Tests across a 24-hour day found higher growth hormone among older men. Insulin-like growth factor also rose. Larger amounts brought both hormones into younger men's range [5]. Children's growth rose from about 4.1 centimeters per year to 7-8 centimeters with sermorelin [2]. In a tesamorelin trial, insulin-like growth factor rose 117% over 20 weeks; body fat's share fell [10].
Those group measurements can't predict your health result.