In this educational video, primary‑care physician Dr. Ashley Frazee breaks down the popular growth‑hormone‑releasing peptides (sermorelin, tesamorelin, CJC‑1295, ipamorelin, etc.), explaining how they stimulate the pituitary to release growth hormone, which in turn raises liver‑produced insulin‑like growth factor‑1 (IGF‑1). She describes the physiological benefits attributed to IGF‑1—muscle growth, bone strength, nerve repair, better sleep and recovery—while emphasizing that IGF‑1 acts like a non‑selective fertilizer, promoting growth in any cell that has its receptor. Observational studies linking chronically elevated IGF‑1 to modest (20‑50%) relative increases in breast, prostate, colon, and pancreatic cancer risk are presented, with a clear note that correlation does not prove causation. Dr. Frazee contrasts short‑acting, pulsatile peptides (e.g., sermorelin, ipamorelin) that mimic natural nighttime GH spikes with longer‑acting formulations (e.g., CJC‑1295, tesamorelin) that sustain higher IGF‑1 levels, using a tide analogy to illustrate why rhythm may matter for safety. She critiques the current state of cancer screening, noting that existing tools (colonoscopies, mammograms, PSA) and emerging blood‑based tests like Galleri have limitations and false‑negative rates, so early detection of an undiagnosed cancer cannot be guaranteed. The video concludes with practical advice: understand the mechanisms, weigh the modest but unproven cancer risk, consider cycling peptides to avoid chronic IGF‑1 elevation, and encourage open, informed conversations with physicians rather than blanket dismissal. Dr. Frazee positions herself as a knowledgeable but non‑specialist doctor who values evidence‑based discussion.
Chapters
Peptides are everywhere right now. Sermorelin, tesamorelin, CJC-1295— these are a group of popular peptides that promise better sleep, faster recovery, fat loss, muscle gains, strength gains, etc. And honestly, I get it. I've seen people use these compounds and get incredible strength and mass gains in the gym, get better sleep, and feel more leaned out, which is basically everybody's dream, right? See, I'm a primary care physician, and I really like peptides. I like that they tend to potentiate processes versus blunting or blocking pathways like traditional medications do. It's like putting a positive spin on something instead of a negative one. But here's the thing, I also like the truth. And so in this video, we are going to look at what these peptides are supposed to be doing, what's supported by and shown in research, and why there's skepticism around them, specifically the peptides that are designed to increase growth hormone, thereby increasing a hormone called IGF-1. And let me explain what IGF-1 is before I go any further. Okay, sermorelin, tesamorelin, CJC-1295, and a few other peptides. These are either growth hormone-releasing peptides or growth hormone-releasing hormone analogs. Basically, they all get to the same end result by increasing growth hormone. They just have different stabilities and potencies, etc. They tell the pituitary, which lives at the base of the brain, hey, it's time to pulse out more growth hormone. That growth hormone then travels to the liver and tells it to make something called Insulin-like growth factor 1, IGF-1. Now, IGF-1 is what actually drives the magic of repair, recovery, strength, etc. You can think of growth hormone as like the spark and IGF-1 as the flame that does the work. A better analogy is to think of IGF-1 as like fertilizer for your cells. It helps muscle growth, it helps nerve repair, it helps bones stay strong. And just like a lot of good things and hormones in the body, you have a lot of it when you're really young, and then levels of it decline. IGF-1 is the reason that kids can eat a sandwich and basically grow an inch. Now I just want to point something out. IGF-1 doesn't necessarily discriminate what cells it acts on as long as those cells have the receptor for it. Now this is like fertilizing your garden. You might have some weeds in there that the fertilizer hits and grows also. It's just going to help grow whatever is there and can receive it. Okay, and here's where some of the skepticism and fear on peptides, especially the growth hormone-releasing hormone peptides, comes from. This is actually researched data. So people with chronically high IGF-1 levels, naturally or otherwise, do tend to have slightly higher rates of cancer. I'm talking about breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer. These things have been researched. Now the increase is small. It's not a massive leap. It's like a roughly 20 to 50% relative risk increase. And so that's where the fear comes from. A lot of these cancer cells have a lot of IGF-1 receptors on them. And so if you have chronically elevated IGF-1, the thought is if you have a cancer and you don't know about it— because the scariest cancer is the one that you don't know you have— then by chronically elevating your IGF-1 levels, you could be promoting growth of a cancer. Now, this is correlation, not causation. We have never been able to prove that using peptide therapy Grows cancers. It's just a theory, and it's a good one. Now here's a key distinction that doesn't get enough airtime. Growth hormone rises and falls in the body at different times of the day. It pulses kind of like waves, and mostly at night before you're about to sleep, because sleep is when you need the most of it. Now those pulses of growth hormone matter. They give your system balance— time to build, time to rest, time to clean up or get rid of old or damaged cells. Now short-acting peptides like Sermorelin or Ipamorelin mimic that pulsatile rhythm. Longer-acting versions like CJC or tesa morolin hold that signal longer, and it's important for you to know that. And I'm not saying that one is good and the other is bad, it's just, it's just good to know. You can think of it like ocean tides. The ocean has a rhythm to it. The waves go in and out, but constant high tide can kind of erode the shoreline. So it's important to have that back and forth, that rhythm. Now this brings me to talk about the next thing that you might be thinking about. Well, if I have a cancer and I don't know it's there, how do I figure that out? And that's a great question to ask, but the sad news of it is that we're just not there yet. We have screening tools, we have blood tests to check if your prostate is overactive or crying for help, basically. We have colonoscopies and mammograms, etc. And there's a big push lately for blood tests like the Galleri test, claiming that they can detect cancer in the blood. And I'm just gonna say The science isn't there yet. There's a lot of false negatives in those tests. And so I think the answer to it is you just have to understand the risk and be willing to accept it if you're desperate enough to want to try peptide therapy or any therapy for that matter. It's just really good to understand how things work and also have a 360-degree understanding of why would this be scary? What could be the risks involved? And I think a lot of doctors need to be more informed as well and need to be willing to have these conversations with people versus just kind of shutting them down at the gate. And I'll be honest with you, a lot of doctors are very intelligent. They have my respect, but a lot of them shut you down out of fear or not knowing the answer. I don't know if I should keep that in this video. Okay, let me just give you a quick summary of what I went over in this video. Peptides such as sermorelin, tesamorelin, CJC-1295, and others That are meant to increase growth hormone in any way also end up increasing a hormone called IGF-1. IGF-1 is like fertilizer for your cells. It does a lot of great things, allowing you to repair and recover basically within normal physiologic amounts. And even at the higher levels, IGF-1 supports muscle growth, metabolism, and repair. Now, there's research out there showing that elevations in IGF-1, particularly chronic sustained elevations in IGF-1 has a modest association with cancer growth or increased relative risk of cancers. But I will say that nothing is proven and there's no causation link there. Pulsatile monitored use may be very safe. Chronic sustained elevation is where most theoretical concern lies. And so you can understand why people who use peptides cycle on and off of them. For a reason. I'll say that much at least. All right guys, I'm Dr. Ashley Frazee. I run a direct primary care clinic in Mesa, Arizona. It's just where I don't take insurance. My patients pay me directly so we can have conversations that matter to them. That being said, I'm not a peptide coach. I'm just a regular doctor who gets really excited about things that tend to benefit your life, but I also just really care about outcomes. If you like this video, please hit like for me, subscribe to my channel, and I'll keep talking. You guys have the best day.
