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Peptides/Hormones and growth

Tesamorelin

Also sold as Egrifta

An approved medicine that reduces deep belly fat by prompting the body to release its own growth hormone. Licensed for a specific condition.

Approved medicineStrong human evidence
CC0 1.0 · source

At a glance

What people use it for

  • Reducing visceral fat in people with HIV-related lipodystrophy
  • Prescribed off-label for stubborn abdominal fat
  • Studied for fatty liver disease

How it is taken

A daily injection under the skin of the stomach, on prescription.

Evidence

Strong human evidence

Good to know

  • Joint pain, swelling and pins and needles in the hands
  • Raised blood sugar, so it needs care in anyone with or near diabetes
  • Not suitable for anyone with an active cancer
  • The licensed indication is narrow; off-label use is much less well studied

Tesamorelin is worth knowing about because it is the answer to a question people often ask: is there an approved peptide that actually reduces belly fat. There is, and this is it.

It works by copying growth hormone releasing hormone, so instead of injecting growth hormone directly, it prompts the pituitary gland to release its own in a more natural rhythm.

What people take it for

Its licence is specific: excess visceral fat in people with HIV-associated lipodystrophy, where fat redistributes in ways that are both uncomfortable and metabolically harmful. In that group it works.

It is also prescribed off-label for deep abdominal fat in people without HIV, and has been studied for fatty liver disease.

What the evidence shows

The registration trials showed meaningful reductions in visceral fat, measured on CT rather than by tape measure, over 26 to 52 weeks. It is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, which places it in a completely different category from most compounds in this section.

Visceral fat is the fat around the organs, and it is the kind most strongly linked to metabolic disease. Reducing it specifically is a genuinely useful thing to be able to do.

What to know before

The side effects reflect what growth hormone does. Fluid retention causes joint aches and sometimes carpal tunnel symptoms. Blood sugar can rise, which matters for anyone already close to diabetes.

Because it stimulates growth signalling, it is avoided in anyone with an active malignancy.

The off-label use for ordinary abdominal fat sits on much thinner ground than the licensed one, and it is expensive.

Last reviewed .