Patient Care: IGF1-Hormone
Image Credits: Optimal Living Dynamics 

“Keep your vitality. A life without health is like a river without water.”- Maxime Lagacé

Article Authors: Gordon Slater| Tandose Sambo

What is the IGF1 Growth Hormone? 

As medical innovations advance, there are a series of important inclusions in patient care, which make the applications of minimally invasive processes that much more effective. It is always a good idea that during your orthopaedic care, you remain educated on the latest and greatest in medical innovation. When it comes to orthopaedic care, the acute cases are normally treated with over the counter treatments or minimally invasive procedures that will enable you to be in and out of the practice within a few hours. 

For more complicated healing procedures, orthopaedic surgeons have introduced some synthetic help, so that the body can optimally heal itself. Theoretically, it was identified that certain aspects of the human body are slow healing, and if damaged, will often require transplants to restore the area. With detailed investigation of healing mechanisms, root causes of healing have been identified, synthesized and subsequently injected into the body as catalysts for the healing process. With much success, protein therapies such as the IGF1 Hormone have successfully been implemented into medical therapies. 

While many of these therapies are new additions to existing therapies, and may not necessarily be covered by current insurance packages, independent studies have proven that they are indeed effective. Speak to your orthopaedic surgeon if you feel that you’d love to include new innovations into your therapeutic healing processes. Minimally invasive processes that can facilitate your body’s own natural healing may be just what you are seeking for your current orthopaedic condition. 

The IGF1 is part of the Insulin-like Growth Factor hormones which are injected into the body for healing enhancement. As an insulin analogue, the peptide has applications in facilitating bone growth, muscle growth and muscle repair. The substituted protein chains on the growth factors are what differentiate each hormone from the other insulin analogues in the growth factor group.

IGF1 as a protein, stimulates the proliferation and survival of cells. For conditions such as diabetes, all the critical elements for healing are therefore enhanced. This includes the growth of muscle, bone and cartilage. The functions of the protein include: 

  1. A higher bioactivity than insulin, promoting growth and healing functions in the injected patient. 
  2. Based on the bioengineering of the peptide, IGF1 has a higher half life than insulin and natural proteins. As a more stable molecule, it is finding increased applications in the medical industry for culturing and research. 

With a myriad of research proteins available on the market, such as: Melanotan II, CJC-1295, Sermorelin, IGF1-LR3 and GHRP-2, determining the application for research or medical purposes can be a challenge. Talk to your orthopaedic surgeon to determine if the healing attributes of the IGF1 protein can enhance your healing. If you’re a candidate for treatments such as distraction arthroplasty, your joint restoration could be enhanced by the injection of a protein such as IGF1. 

References: 

  1. IGF Hormone LR3: https://www.peprotech.com/en/recombinant-human-igf-i-lr3
  2. IGF Hormone LR3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IGF-1_LR3
  3. IGF1 and IGF3 Comparison: https://www.bioprocessonline.com/doc/igf-long-igf-lr-is-there-difference-us-peptides-discusses-0001
  4. Insulin-like growth factor-1 in articular cartilage repair for osteoarthritis treatment: https://arthritis-research.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13075-021-02662-0