CONSULTANT’S CORNER Larry Thorne, BScPharm, RPh, FACA, PCCA Pharmacy Consultant Is HCG the Missing Link? Obesity is a very common disorder, shortening the lifespan of millions of people around the world. In the USA, 65% of the adult population is overweight. The World Health Organization (WHO) has called obesity an epidemic. This epidemic now has reached worldwide proportions, and society faces a problem that will cause more suffering, disease, and death than any other plague over the last 300 years. Individuals who tend to gain weight around the abdomen are at a higher risk than people of healthy weight for serious medical conditions such as high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, gallbladder disease, and different cancers. We have all watched many popular diet plans come and go, but a successful diet plan needs to be easy to follow, shows rapid, measureable weight loss, and helps to lose fat – not muscle. It must be safe, and the plan must allow for long- term weight control. Human chorionic gonadropin (HCG) is increasingly popular as a weight-loss supplement. Is HCG the possible key? HCG is a glycoprotein produced naturally in the human body during pregnancy, first by the embryo itself and then by the placenta. (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1973). In the 1950s, British endocrinologist A.T.W. Simeon, while studying calorie-deficient pregnant women and Frolich’s Syndrome (“fat boys” with pituitary problems), claimed that both lost fat rather than lean muscle tissue if treated with low-dose HCG. He reasoned that HCG must be programming the hypothalamus in pregnant women in order to protect the developing fetus by promoting mobilization and consumption of abnormal, excessive adipose deposits. While practicing at the Salvador Mundi International Hospital in Rome, Italy, he recommended low-dose daily injections of HCG (125 IU) in combination with a customized ultra-low calorie diet – 500 calories/day, high protein, low carbohydrate/fat. The protocol resulted in the loss of adipose tissue without loss of lean tissue. Simeon published his results, titled Pounds and Inches – A New Approach to Obesity. The transcript is available online, and can be found by searching for the title. Little has changed in the protocol used today. HCG is a prescription drug, and its approved uses include conditions such as dwarfism and undescended testicles in men; for females, the accepted uses of HCG tend to focus more on fertility. Further, it is a hormone, and as such, with regular use of doses approved for these conditions, it has the potential to interfere with the body’s natural hormone production. Its use is banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and can be detected in a urine test. The FDA has not approved HCG as a weight-loss drug. The FDA parameters for approving drugs for obesity treatment specify that more weight should be lost with the use of a drug verses placebo. Dr. Simeon’s protocol does not result in more weight loss verses placebo, but Simeon found that it did generate a difference in fatty deposits. For this reason, it is legal in most states to be prescribed “off-label” by a physician who supervises its use. The practitioner should check with their licensing board for state-specific regulations. The weight-loss protocol is a combination of low-dose HCG combined with a very specific 500 calories/day diet. In general, such a low calorie diet can result in low energy levels, weakness, and dizziness: “Anybody will lose weight on 500 calories a day, and the risk is that if you don’t get enough protein, you lose muscle mass instead of fat, and can end up worse off than when you started when you go off the diet.” (George Gillson, MD, PhD, interview) As Dr. Simeon stated, it’s not only about pounds – it also is about inches . The amount of weight lost during treatment does not differ significantly from other treatments involving
Transcript
C O N S U LTA N T ’ S C O R N E R
Larry Thorne, BScPharm, RPh,
FACA, PCCA Pharmacy
Consultant
Is HCG the Missing Link?
Obesity is a very common disorder, shortening the lifespan of millions of people around the world. In the USA, 65% of the adult population is overweight. The World Health Organization (WHO) has called obesity an epidemic. This epidemic now has reached worldwide proportions, and society faces a problem that will cause
more suffering, disease, and death than any other plague over the last 300 years. Individuals who tend to gain weight around the abdomen are at a higher risk than people of healthy weight for serious medical conditions such as high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, gallbladder disease, and different cancers.
We have all watched many popular diet plans come and go, but a successful diet plan needs to be easy to follow, shows rapid, measureable weight loss, and helps to lose fat – not muscle. It must be safe, and the plan must allow for long-term weight control. Human chorionic gonadropin (HCG) is increasingly popular as a weight-loss supplement. Is HCG the possible key?
HCG is a glycoprotein produced naturally in the human body during pregnancy, first by the embryo itself and then by the placenta. (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1973). In the 1950s, British endocrinologist A.T.W. Simeon, while studying calorie-deficient pregnant women and Frolich’s Syndrome (“fat boys” with pituitary problems), claimed that both lost fat rather than lean muscle tissue if treated with low-dose HCG. He reasoned that HCG must be programming the hypothalamus in pregnant women in order to protect the developing fetus by promoting mobilization and consumption of abnormal, excessive adipose deposits. While practicing at the Salvador Mundi International Hospital in Rome, Italy, he recommended low-dose daily injections of HCG (125 IU) in combination with a customized ultra-low calorie diet – 500 calories/day, high protein, low carbohydrate/fat. The protocol resulted in the loss of adipose tissue without loss of lean tissue. Simeon published his results, titled Pounds and Inches – A New
Approach to Obesity. The transcript is available online, and can be found by searching for the title. Little has changed in the protocol used today.
HCG is a prescription drug, and its approved uses include conditions such as dwarfism and undescended testicles in men; for females, the accepted uses of HCG tend to focus more on fertility. Further, it is a hormone, and as such, with regular use of doses approved for these conditions, it has the potential to interfere with the body’s natural hormone production. Its use is banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and can be detected in a urine test. The FDA has not approved HCG as a weight-loss drug. The FDA parameters for approving drugs for obesity treatment specify that more weight should be lost with the use of a drug verses placebo. Dr. Simeon’s protocol does not result in more weight loss verses placebo, but Simeon found that it did generate a difference in fatty deposits. For this reason, it is legal in most states to be prescribed “off-label” by a physician who supervises its use. The practitioner should check with their licensing board for state-specific regulations.
The weight-loss protocol is a combination of low-dose HCG combined with a very specific 500 calories/day diet. In general, such a low calorie diet can result in low energy levels, weakness, and dizziness: “Anybody will lose weight on 500 calories a day, and the risk is that if you don’t get enough protein, you lose muscle mass instead of fat, and can end up worse off than when you started when you go off the diet.” (George Gillson, MD, PhD, interview)
As Dr. Simeon stated, it ’s not only about pounds – it also is about inches. The amount of weight lost during treatment does not differ significantly from other treatments involving
very low-calorie diets (VLCD). But he maintained that when VLDC is combined with low-dose HCG, patients lose significantly more body fat than patients that only diet.
A number of recent studies have shown similar results:
In 2003, D.A. Belluscio, MD, published a study suggesting that formulations of HCG could be effective in promoting beneficial fat redistribution during a VLCD. This was followed by a double-blind study verifying his results. His research is ongoing, and his clinic in Argentina continues to treat obese patients, now numbering in the thousands, worldwide. His clinic runs regular three-day training programs for physicians and health professionals. (oralhcg.com)
Another study in Gynecologic and Obstetric Investigation (2006;62:61-65) showed that HCG increased the levels of adiponectin – an adipocyte hormone involved in glucose and lipid metabolism which “acts in the brain to decrease body weight.” (Nature Medicine 2004: 10, 524-529)
Persons using the HCG plus VLCD protocol tend to lose (plus or minus) one to one-and-a-half pounds per day of subcutaneous fat, are less irritable, and feel better than on VLCD alone. HCG contains B-endorphin. (Atkinson JH, et al. "Plasma measures of B-endorphin/B-lipotropin-like immunoreactivity in chronic pain syndrome and psychiatric subjects." Psychiatry Res. 1983 Aug; 9(4):319-27). This may account for reports of enhanced well-being and lack of fatigue during the HCG protocol.
Because HCG is a prescription medicine, treatment with HCG should be supervised carefully by a physician. Although reported side-effects are minimal, any ovarian hyperstimulation must be monitored. Because many diseases are directly related to excess weight, individuals taking other medicines may require dose adjustments as their weight changes.
HCG can be administered via sublingual drops and troches, nasal spray, and injection (see below). The recommended dose may vary slightly between practitioners. PCCA’s HCG product, PCCA #55-3560, is a sterile, lyophilized chemical extracted from human urine. It meets standards set forth by the European Pharmacopoeia, and is from a non-Chinese source.
Sublingual drops, troches, or nasal formulas are used twice daily, at 12-hour intervals, and vary from 62.5 U to 500 U per dose:
Sublingual Drops PCCA Formula #9833 HCG 125 U/0.1 mL (PF)
Troches PCCA Formula #9829 HCG 500 U Base A Troche
Nasal Formulas PCCA Formula #9830 HCG 100 U/0.1 mL Nasal Spray
PCCA Formula #4951 HCG 1000 U/mL Injection Solution
Successful weight-loss on the HCG protocol diet requires strict adherence to “no fat or oil.” The protocol is designed to last three or six weeks, and a universal complaint during this time is dry skin. PCCA carries a variety of proprietary bases that are ideal for compounding HCG diet-friendly preparations:
• VersaBase® Cream, Lotion, Gel, Foam and Shampoo• Emulsifix®-205• Chrysaderm® Day, Chrysaderm® Night
Similarly, to help patients get some f lavor variety in their diet, stevia-f lavored drops can be used for f lavoring coffee, tea, water, crushed ice, and soda. Some top f lavor choices are lemon, orange, raspberry, chocolate, vanilla, grape and toffee. Stevia also may be used. (See PCCA Formulas #9840, Stevioside 200 mg/mL Concentrate (Flavored), and #9841, an alternate version).
For a variety of formulation ideas, see PCCA’s Commonly Requested HCG Diet Compounding Ideas/HCG Diet-Friendly, Oil-Free Cosmetic Compounding Ideas sheet – PCCA Document #98130 under Resources>Documents on the Members-only Website.
The HCG Diet Protocol has endured the test of time. There is no question that adherence to the HCG diet protocol will result in rapid weight loss. But individuals must “change the things they were doing that got them into that boat (obesity) to start with. Sustainable weight-loss involves permanent changes to diet and activity, patterns of consumption, and so forth. I think some HCG clinics are doing a much better job than others in helping people to clean up their act.” (George Gillson, MD, PhD, interview)
Sublingual Drops• Chorionic Gonadotropin 125 U/0.1 mL Sublingual
Solution (PF)
Troches• Chorionic Gonadotropin 500 U Base A Troche
This formula utilizes the HCG Diet-approved sweetener, stevioside.
Flavored Stevia Drops for Food/Drink RecipesUsed on the HCG DietHelp patients get some flavor variety in their diet! Stevia flavored drops can be used forflavoring coffee, tea, water, crushed ice, and soda. Some top flavor choices are lemon, orange, raspberry, chocolate, vanilla, grape and toffee.
