What did the adult studies actually find?

Who took part, and for how long?

The older-adult studies covered groups of 10 to 19 people, with treatment periods between 2 and 16 weeks.

Some studied sermorelin and another studied a modified version, so they cannot all be treated as tests of the same medicine.

Growth hormone is one of the body’s chemical messages. Its blood level rose in these studies. Some also found a rise in IGF-1, another body signal involved in growth. Researchers measured these signals to see whether the injections changed hormone activity.

A higher hormone reading alone does not show that someone slept better or lost body fat.

A change in a blood measurement leaves another question: did the person’s health improve in a way that mattered to them?

Did sleep improve?

The 16-week study of the modified hormone in older adults found no change in reported sleep quality.

Other sleep experiments injected the natural hormone that tells the gland to release growth hormone. It was given into a vein. The reports do not say whether they used that whole hormone or just the shorter part copied by sermorelin.

Those experiments therefore cannot be read as proof that pharmacy-prepared sermorelin improves sleep.

What would make a claim more useful?

• Was this the same substance, given in the same way?
• Were the participants like me?
• Was the outcome a hormone reading, body fat, sleep or something else?
• How long were people followed, and was there a comparison group?

Ask to see the study behind the promised benefit. Read its limits alongside its result.