Insulin-like Hormone May Prolong Life For Men

A recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism stated that elderly men with higher activity of the hormone IGF-1 or insulin-growth factor 1 appear to have greater life expectancy and reduced vascular risk. This new finding came as a result of a new form of testing for IGF-bioactivity.

IGF-1 is a hormone similar in molecular structure to insulin, which is being released by the liver and plays an important role in childhood growth and continues to have anabolic effects on adults.

The study evaluated 376 healthy elderly men between the age of 73 and 94 from which the researchers took serum sample from. The participants are then contacted for eight years about their health status. Subjects with the lowest IGF-1 function had significantly higher mortality rate than subjects with the highest IGF-1 bioactivity. These results were especially significant to those who have high risk to die from cardiovascular complications.

Researchers in this study used a new method, a bioassay, to measure the function of IGF-1 in the blood. Compared to commonly used methods to measure IGF-1, the IGF-1 bioassay gives more information about the actual function (bioactivity) of circulating IGF-1 in the body. Determination of IGF-1 function using the bioassay opens the possibility to gather new insights about the functions of IGF-1 in the body