Dr. Rudman had come to the conclusion that since hormonal production and activity decline in the human body as we begin to age, perhaps this decline was involved in the aging process. At the forefront of this hormonal decline, Dr. Rudman concluded, was HGH. The production of HGH in the body begins to drop off sharply around age 25, about the same time that the physical decline begins to set in. In addition, the results of studies in Denmark and Sweden employing genetically engineered HGH that had newly become available, offered indirect support for Dr. Rudman's hypothesis.

In these studies, children and adults with HGH deficiencies due to pituitary malfunction, were given injections of HGH. Thereafter these individuals, in whom some wasting of body tissue had occurred, attained a more normal lean body mass. Now, one of the most obvious signs of aging is the decline of lean body tissue - our muscles become less pronounced, our bones less dense; also, we tend to pack on more fat. Dr. Rudman's intriguing idea was this: What would happen if HGH were to be given to individuals who were aging but were otherwise normal and healthy?

To answer this question, Dr. Rudman recruited 26 men ranging in age from 61 to 80. All exhibited the characteristic bodies of those in their advancing years: the loss of firm, well defined muscles, and that extra cushion of fat around the middle: the amorphous rotundity of age.

A few men dropped out of the study, but of the 21 men who completed it, 12 were given HGH injection throughout while 9 in the control group received no treatment.