Joint Statement from the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology and the Pediatric Endocrine Society (of North America)

Evidence of a possible link between the development of Alzheimer's disease and pituitary-extracted human growth hormone treatment

A scientific paper from the MRC Prion Unit/UCL Institute of Neurology in the UK has been published in the journal Nature on 10 September 2015: 'Evidence for human transmission of amyloid ß pathology and cerebral amyloid angiopathy' http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v525/n7568/full/nature15369.html

In some postmortem examinations of brain tissue extracted from patients dying from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease as a result of contaminated batches of growth hormone treatment, the substance amyloid ß was found, something that is normally associated with Alzheimer's disease sufferers. None of the patients showed signs of this disease before their death. This unexpected finding has suggested a link with growth hormone treatment extracted from human pituitary glands. This type of treatment was stopped in 1985.

THERE IS NO POSSIBILITY OF A RISK WITH THE BIOSYNTHETIC (MAN-MADE) GROWTH HORMONE USED SINCE 1985.

Patients who received pituitary-extracted growth hormone before 1985 and who have concerns should contact their own medical practitioner for further information. National helplines may be available.

For further information please see the following link to the Medical Research Council Unit in London which published the research http://www.prion.ucl.ac.uk/clinic-services/evidence-for-human-transmission-of-amyloidb/