Illness requiring hormone replacement therapy

In 1985, the USA Food and Drug Administration approved human growth hormone (HGH) for use in the approximately 20,000 children with hormone deficiency, either of unknown cause or from damage to the pituitary gland. With a year's treatment costing $10,000 to $20,000, HGH's two manufacturers together have annual sales of more than $200 million.

Maintenance of knee articular (joint) cartilage may be the mechanism by which oestrogen protects against knee osteoarthritis. An Australian study found that women who took oestrogen replacement therapy for five years had more cartilage in their knee joints than other women in the study who had never used hormone supplements.