Somatopause

{{Short description|Decline in the levels of growth hormone}}

Somatopause is the progressive decline in the levels of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), hormones of the hypothalamic–pituitary–somatotropic axis (HPS axis), with age.{{cite book|author1=J. Larry Jameson|author2=Leslie J. De Groot|title=Endocrinology: Adult and Pediatric E-Book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xmLeBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA2315|date=25 February 2015|publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences|isbn=978-0-323-32195-2|pages=2315–}} Secretion of GH may only be 60% of that of a young adult by age 70 years.{{cite book|author1=Roy G. Smith|author2=Michael O. Thorner|title=Human Growth Hormone: Research and Clinical Practice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Unf5BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA325|date=28 January 2000|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-59259-015-5|pages=325–}} Somatopause results in changes in the body, such as body composition changes like a decrease in lean body mass. Estrogens and progesterone may oppose somatopause by increasing GH and IGF-1 levels.