CJC-1295 vs Tesamorelin: Which Is Better for Fat Loss?
Should I take CJC-1295 or tesamorelin?
Tesamorelin, unless price is the only thing deciding. It is FDA-approved for visceral fat with Phase 3 trials behind it, while CJC-1295 is a gray-market research peptide whose best human data measures hormone response, not results. CJC-1295 costs a fraction as much. That is its whole argument.
- Tesamorelin scores 6.2 and CJC-1295 scores 5.5. The bigger split is the evidence dimension: 4.6 against 2.8.
- Only one of these is a real long-acting molecule. DAC CJC-1295 has an estimated half-life of 5.8 to 8.1 days. Tesamorelin clears in about 26 minutes and is injected daily.
- Tesamorelin is a prescription drug with an FDA label. CJC-1295 has no approved human product and sits on the FDA's compounding safety-risk list, so buyers use research-peptide vendors and have to pay for purity and endotoxin testing.
- CJC-1295 has no Phase III and no body-composition trial. Its own report borrows tesamorelin's Falutz 2010 and Stanley 2014 data to make the physique case.
- Price is the one row CJC-1295 wins: roughly $80 to $200 a month against an estimated $250 to $500.
- Same receptor, so stacking them is redundant rather than synergistic. The tesamorelin report says so directly.
At a Glance
CJC-1295
- Efficacy 2.8
- Breadth 3.0
- Evidence 2.8
- Speed 3.3
- Durability 1.8
- Bioindividuality 2.9
- Safety Risk 2.3
- Side Effects 2.4
- Cost 2.6
- Effort 3.6
- Opportunity Cost 2.0
- Dependency 1.9
- Reversibility 1.4
- Body Composition
- Hormonal
- Muscle Growth
- Sleep Quality
Gray-market GHRH analog, sold with and without the DAC albumin-binding tail. BioHarmony 5.5, neutral.
Tesamorelin
- Efficacy 4.3
- Breadth 4.0
- Evidence 4.6
- Speed 2.5
- Durability 1.5
- Bioindividuality 4.0
- Safety Risk 1.9
- Side Effects 2.3
- Cost 4.0
- Effort 2.5
- Opportunity Cost 2.5
- Dependency 3.5
- Reversibility 2.0
- Body Composition
- Hormonal
- Metabolic Health
- Liver Detox
Stabilized GHRH analog, FDA-approved for HIV-associated abdominal lipodystrophy. BioHarmony 6.2, worth trying.
Head-to-Head Verdict
| Use Case | Winner | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Body Composition | Tesamorelin | Tesamorelin 7.5 against CJC-1295's 6.0, and the numbers understate it. Falutz 2007 was the Phase 3 trial that cut visceral fat with subcutaneous fat largely preserved, and Badran 2026 pooled five RCTs to the same conclusion. CJC-1295's own body-composition rationale is built on Falutz 2010 and Stanley 2014, which are tesamorelin trials. It is borrowing the other side's evidence. |
| Metabolic Health | Tesamorelin | Tesamorelin 7.0 against 1.0, the widest gap in the matrix. Stanley 2012 found visceral-fat responders carried better triglyceride and glucose patterns than nonresponders, though FDA labeling still warns about glucose intolerance. CJC-1295 has no metabolic outcome data at all, and raising GH can worsen insulin sensitivity, so its 1.0 is a real zero rather than a gap in the literature. |
| Liver Detox | Tesamorelin | Tesamorelin 6.5 against 1.0. Stanley 2019 randomized 61 people with HIV-associated fatty liver over 12 months and reduced liver fat, and Fourman 2020 followed with paired liver biopsies showing shifts in oxidative phosphorylation, inflammatory and fibrosis-related gene pathways. Nothing in the CJC-1295 record touches the liver. This row needs imaging and a specialist, not a telehealth form. |
| Cardiovascular | Tesamorelin | Tesamorelin 6.0 against 1.0, and for CJC-1295 this is a caution row, not a benefit row. The FDA compounding listing names increased heart rate and systemic vasodilatory reaction as concerns. Tesamorelin moves cardiometabolic surrogates through visceral fat reduction, with Stanley 2011 tying inflammatory-marker change to that response in 410 patients. Neither has a cardiovascular event trial. |
| Geriatric | Tesamorelin | Tesamorelin 6.0 against 1.0. Baker 2012 ran a 20-week randomized trial of GHRH analog therapy in older adults and in mild cognitive impairment, and Adrian 2019 found better trunk muscle area and density in responders. The case against CJC-1295 is not just missing data: GH response falls with age while cancer, glucose and cardiovascular risk rise, and it has no safety data in that population. |
| Hormonal | Tesamorelin | Tesamorelin 7.5 against 5.5, and this is the row where CJC-1295 is strongest. Teichman 2006 showed dose-dependent GH and IGF-1 increases in healthy adults, so the hormone response is real. Tesamorelin wins because its IGF-1 effect was measured inside trials that also tracked outcomes, with Falutz 2007 documenting the axis effect in the pivotal population and an FDA label defining the monitoring. |
| Muscle Growth | Tie | The subratings say CJC-1295 5.5 against tesamorelin 4.5, and the evidence says the opposite, so call it even. Tesamorelin at least has Adrian 2019, an exploratory secondary analysis where responders showed improved trunk muscle area and density against placebo. CJC-1295 has no human muscle trial of any design. A 1.0 subrating advantage built on no measurement is not a reason to choose it. |
| Sleep Architecture | Tie | CJC-1295 5.0 against 4.0, and neither side has a sleep trial. The only sleep evidence in either citation record is Murck 1997, which found that long-term GHRH administration did not restore reduced GHRH efficiency on sleep-endocrine activity in older subjects. That points against the claim rather than for it. Deeper sleep is what CJC-1295 is sold on and the thinnest thing under it. |
| Recovery Repair | Tie | CJC-1295 5.0 against 4.5, inside the noise, with no human recovery trial on either side. Tesamorelin's nearest data is a secondary muscle-area analysis in HIV patients. CJC-1295's is the GH and IGF-1 rise Teichman 2006 measured, which is a mechanism reading and not a recovery outcome. If training recovery is the goal, this comparison has nothing to offer either way. |
Cost Comparison
| Intervention | Monthly Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CJC-1295 | $80 to $200 | Priced 2026-09-08, research-chemical channel, at the weekly 1 to 2 mg DAC protocol. That figure comes before third-party purity and endotoxin testing, syringes, bacteriostatic water and lab monitoring, all of which the report treats as mandatory on this channel rather than optional.Read the protocol attached to the price. The dominant community protocol is not weekly DAC, it is 100 mcg of no-DAC Mod-GRF 1-29 one to three times a day, often stacked with 100 to 200 mcg of ipamorelin. That uses far more material than the priced protocol does. |
| Tesamorelin | $250 to $500 | ESTIMATE, priced 2026-09-07, compounding-pharmacy channel. Compounded tesamorelin through telehealth prescribers runs about $250 to $500 a month at the 2 mg daily dose. This is a channel estimate, not a measured price you are guaranteed to pay.Branded Egrifta SV is a different order of magnitude and can reach several thousand dollars a month without coverage. Insurance usually turns on documented HIV-associated lipodystrophy and prior authorization. |
| The difference | About $170 to $300 a month | Roughly $80 to $200 against an estimated $250 to $500, so about $170 more at the low ends and about $300 more at the high ends. Over a year that is $960 to $2,400 against $3,000 to $6,000.That gap is the only argument for CJC-1295 in this comparison, and it is an argument about price rather than results. Tesamorelin's benefit also regresses after discontinuation, so the honest number to plan against is the multi-year one, not a single cycle. |
When to Switch
These run on different calendars, and the shorter one belongs to the weaker compound. CJC-1295 gives a first noticeable change at about 2 weeks, reaches full effect at about 12 weeks, and carries a 12-week assessment window.
Tesamorelin takes about 4 weeks for a first change, 26 weeks for full effect, and carries a 13-week assessment window. So CJC-1295 is fully judged at the point where tesamorelin has only just earned its first honest read.
Move from CJC-1295 to tesamorelin when you have a measurable target rather than a feeling: visceral fat confirmed by imaging or waist measurement, fatty liver, or the HIV lipodystrophy phenotype. Those are the endpoints Falutz 2007, Stanley 2014 and Stanley 2019 actually measured.
No amount of time on CJC-1295 will generate that evidence. Move the other way, from tesamorelin to CJC-1295, for one reason only: cost. Be clear what you are buying, which is a cheaper compound with no outcome trial, no approved product, and a supply chain you have to verify yourself.
Do not run them together. Both bind the same GHRH receptor, so the stack is redundant rather than complementary, and the tesamorelin report says exactly that.
Either direction, get baseline IGF-1, fasting glucose, HbA1c, lipids and blood pressure on the board first and repeat them, because both raise the same axis and that axis is where the risk lives.
Who Should Pick What?
Adult with HIV-associated abdominal lipodystrophy
Tesamorelin
This is the labeled indication and the only place either compound has an approval package. Falutz 2007 and Falutz 2010 built it, and the 2025 DHHS and NIH guidance names tesamorelin as the only US FDA-approved therapy for excessive abdominal fat in people with HIV. CJC-1295 has no standing here at any price.
Visceral fat confirmed by imaging or waist measurement
Tesamorelin
Body composition 7.5 against 6.0, and the underlying evidence is not close. Stanley 2014 randomized 50 people and cut both visceral fat and liver fat over 6 months. The CJC-1295 report reaches its own 6.0 by citing that same trial, which tells you which compound the number actually belongs to.
Fatty liver or early MASLD under specialist care
Tesamorelin
Stanley 2019 ran 61 people with HIV-associated fatty liver over 12 months and reduced liver fat, and Fourman 2020 followed with paired liver biopsies showing changes in inflammatory and fibrosis-related pathways. CJC-1295 scores 1.0 for liver and has no hepatic data. This needs imaging, glucose monitoring and a hepatologist.
You want weekly injections instead of a daily one
Tie
Neither, on the evidence. DAC CJC-1295 is the only weekly option here, with an estimated half-life of 5.8 to 8.1 days in Teichman 2006, but you buy that convenience with days of sustained IGF-1 exposure, which is the central theoretical concern, and current community practice has moved to the daily no-DAC form anyway. Tesamorelin is daily by label.
Cost is the binding constraint
CJC-1295
Roughly $80 to $200 a month against an estimated $250 to $500. That is the one row CJC-1295 wins. Be honest about the trade: you are buying a compound with no Phase III, no body-composition trial, no approved product and a vial you have to test yourself. Budget for the purity certificate and the labs, because those are part of the real price.
Older adult tracking cognition or muscle quality
Tesamorelin
Geriatric 6.0 against 1.0 and cognition 6.5 against 1.0. Baker 2012 is the positive human signal in older adults and mild cognitive impairment, but Ellis 2025 found no significant neurocognitive advantage over standard care in people with HIV and abdominal obesity, so treat cognition as secondary to the body-composition case rather than the reason to start.
Active cancer, prior cancer, pregnancy, or trying to conceive
Tie
Neither. Both raise GH and IGF-1, and both reports list malignancy and pregnancy as contraindications. The pooled prospective analysis from the Endogenous Hormones and Breast Cancer Collaborative Group is why chronic IGF-1 elevation gets treated cautiously. Tesamorelin adds breastfeeding and active diabetic retinopathy. CJC-1295 adds a strong first-degree family cancer history.
You compete in tested sport
Tie
Neither, at any dose or time of year. WADA lists growth hormone-releasing factors as prohibited at all times, and both compounds sit in that class. Both source reports name tested sport as a contraindication. There is no microdose, washout or timing story that changes this one.
Research Highlights
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Mechanism Difference
These two are redundant, not complementary. Both are GHRH analogs that bind the pituitary GHRH receptor to amplify growth hormone release and raise hepatic IGF-1. The tesamorelin report states the practical consequence plainly: stacking with CJC-1295 is usually redundant because both stimulate the same receptor.The real difference is exposure time. Tesamorelin clears in about 26 minutes and is injected daily. DAC CJC-1295 binds serum albumin and carries an estimated half-life of 5.8 to 8.1 days in Teichman 2006, so a weekly shot holds IGF-1 up for days. That sustained exposure is the whole theoretical concern with the DAC form.
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Safety Comparison
Tesamorelin's risks are written on an FDA label. CJC-1295's are written on an FDA warning list. Tesamorelin scores 1.9 on safety risk and 2.3 on side effects, with labeled warnings covering neoplasm risk, elevated IGF-1, glucose intolerance, fluid retention, hypersensitivity, injection reactions and acute critical illness.CJC-1295 scores 2.3 and 2.4, and its safety file is the FDA compounding safety-risk listing: immunogenicity, peptide impurity and API characterization problems, increased heart rate and systemic vasodilatory reaction, plus limited clinical data. Both make active cancer an absolute stop, because both raise the same GH and IGF-1 axis.
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Cost Comparison
CJC-1295 runs roughly $80 to $200 a month through research-peptide vendors at the weekly 1 to 2 mg DAC protocol, before purity and endotoxin testing, syringes, bacteriostatic water and lab monitoring. Tesamorelin runs an ESTIMATE of $250 to $500 a month for compounded product at 2 mg daily, priced 2026-09-07, and branded Egrifta SV can reach several thousand without coverage.Call it $170 to $300 a month, or $960 to $2,400 a year against $3,000 to $6,000. Two things move that comparison. The priced CJC-1295 protocol is the weekly one rather than the daily protocol most people run, and tesamorelin's benefit regresses after stopping, which makes it a multi-year line item.
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Cost Comparison Channel
The price gap is really a channel gap. Tesamorelin's $250 to $500 buys a product whose identity, sterility and labeling sit inside a regulated pathway, or an approved product with prior authorization behind it. CJC-1295's $80 to $200 buys a vial from a research-peptide vendor with no approved human equivalent.That is why the CJC-1295 report makes third-party purity and endotoxin testing mandatory rather than optional. Add the certificate and the baseline and follow-up labs to the monthly figure before comparing the two numbers, because the report treats a vial without them as unusable.
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Editorial Verdict
No trial has ever compared these two directly. Neither report's citation record contains one, so every row here is assembled from evidence bases of very unequal size: two Phase 3 HIV lipodystrophy trials, HIV-NAFLD RCTs, a cognition RCT and a 2026 meta-analysis of five RCTs on one side, and small pharmacology studies on the other.Take tesamorelin when you have a measurable target and can get a prescription. Take CJC-1295 only when cost rules tesamorelin out and you accept what you are buying: Teichman 2006 proves a hormone response, not the physique outcomes it is marketed on. This comparison is rated low confidence because the CJC-1295 side is rated low confidence.
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Durability
Neither one holds after you stop. Tesamorelin's durability dimension scores 1.5, the lowest number on either side, and Dhillon 2011 records visceral fat reduction while on therapy with reaccumulation after discontinuation. The 2025 DHHS and NIH guidance notes the same reversal. It behaves like chronic therapy, not a course.CJC-1295 scores 1.8 on durability, which reflects missing data more than measured staying power. Community practice runs 8 to 12 week cycles with at least 4 weeks off to preserve feedback, and no human trial defines the right cycling ratio. Neither compound gives you a result you keep.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is tesamorelin better than CJC-1295?
- Yes, on evidence. Tesamorelin scores 6.2 against 5.5, and the evidence dimension splits 4.6 against 2.8. Tesamorelin has two Phase 3 HIV lipodystrophy trials, HIV-NAFLD RCTs and a 2026 meta-analysis of five RCTs. CJC-1295 has small pharmacology studies and no body-composition trial. The only place CJC-1295 wins is price, at roughly $80 to $200 a month against an estimated $250 to $500.
- Which one is actually long-acting?
- CJC-1295 with DAC, and only that version. Teichman 2006 put its estimated half-life at 5.8 to 8.1 days, which is what makes a weekly injection possible. Tesamorelin clears in about 26 minutes and is injected daily in the evening.Long action is not automatically a feature. Sustained IGF-1 exposure for days is the central theoretical concern with the DAC form, which is why most current community practice has moved to the short-acting no-DAC version dosed one to three times a day.
- Can I take CJC-1295 and tesamorelin together?
- No. Both bind the same pituitary GHRH receptor, so running them together is redundant rather than synergistic, and the tesamorelin report says exactly that. You would be paying twice to push one receptor, and doubling the IGF-1 exposure that drives the risk profile on both. If you are switching, stop one before starting the other.
- Why is CJC-1295 so much cheaper?
- Because it is not a drug. There is no approved human CJC-1295 product and it sits on the FDA's compounding safety-risk listing, so it is sold by research-peptide vendors outside regulated pharmacy channels.Tesamorelin's price buys identity, sterility and labeling inside an approval pathway. Add a third-party purity and endotoxin certificate plus baseline and follow-up labs to the CJC-1295 figure before you compare the two.
- How long before I know whether it is working?
- Different calendars. CJC-1295 gives a first noticeable change at about 2 weeks and reaches full effect around 12 weeks, with a 12-week assessment window. Tesamorelin takes about 4 weeks for a first change and 26 weeks for full effect, with a 13-week assessment window. So CJC-1295 has told you everything it is going to by the time tesamorelin has earned its first honest read.
- Will either one improve my sleep?
- No trial says so. CJC-1295 scores 5.0 for sleep architecture and tesamorelin 4.0, and neither has a sleep trial behind that number.The only sleep evidence in either citation record is Murck 1997, which found that long-term GHRH administration did not restore reduced GHRH efficiency on sleep-endocrine activity in older subjects. Deeper sleep is the most common claim for CJC-1295 and the least supported.
- Who should not take either one?
- Anyone with active cancer or a prior malignancy without oncology clearance, anyone pregnant or trying to conceive, anyone with pituitary disease or prior pituitary surgery, anyone with uncontrolled diabetes or prediabetes without glucose monitoring, and anyone competing in WADA-tested sport.CJC-1295 additionally rules out a strong first-degree family cancer history, active cardiovascular disease, pediatric use, and anyone without access to baseline and follow-up IGF-1 and metabolic labs. Tesamorelin additionally rules out breastfeeding and active diabetic retinopathy.
- Do the results last after I stop?
- No, on either one. Tesamorelin's durability dimension scores 1.5 and CJC-1295's scores 1.8, both near the floor. Dhillon 2011 records visceral fat reaccumulation after tesamorelin is discontinued, and the 2025 DHHS and NIH guidance notes the same reversal. CJC-1295's community pattern is 8 to 12 week cycles with at least 4 weeks off, and no human trial defines the right ratio.
Evidence Sources
- Trial Prolonged stimulation of growth hormone and IGF-I secretion by CJC-1295, a long-acting analog of GH-releasing hormone (2006) CJC-1295 human pharmacology. Sustained GH and IGF-1 increase with short-duration tolerability. Estimated DAC half-life 5.8 to 8.1 days. Not a body-composition or longevity result.
- Trial Pulsatile secretion of growth hormone persists during continuous stimulation by CJC-1295 (2006) Healthy men. GH pulsatility preserved with increased trough and mean GH after DAC CJC-1295 exposure.
- Mechanistic Activation of the GH/IGF-1 axis by CJC-1295 results in serum protein profile changes in normal adult subjects (2009) Serum proteomics after CJC-1295 exposure. Useful for mechanism and downstream biomarkers, not clinical outcomes.
- Regulatory Certain bulk drug substances for use in compounding that may present significant safety risks, FDA (2026) Lists CJC-1295 safety concerns: immunogenicity, peptide impurity and API characterization, increased heart rate, systemic vasodilatory reaction, limited clinical data.
- Observational IGF1, IGFBP3 and breast cancer risk, Endogenous Hormones and Breast Cancer Collaborative Group (2010) Pooled prospective analysis. Supports caution around chronic IGF-1 elevation rather than proving causality for either compound.
- RCT Metabolic effects of a growth hormone-releasing factor in patients with HIV (2007) Landmark Phase 3 trial. Reduced visceral fat, improved lipid and body-image measures, raised IGF-1, with more adverse-event withdrawals than placebo.
- RCT Effects of tesamorelin in HIV-infected patients with abdominal fat accumulation: randomized placebo-controlled trial with safety extension (2010) Supports visceral fat reduction and documents regression of the benefit after discontinuation.
- RCT Effect of tesamorelin on visceral fat and liver fat in HIV-infected patients with abdominal fat accumulation (2014) 50-person randomized trial. Reduced both visceral fat and liver fat over 6 months.
- RCT Effects of tesamorelin on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in HIV: randomized, double-blind, multicentre trial (2019) 61 people with HIV-associated fatty liver disease over 12 months. Reduced liver fat and informed the later hepatic transcriptomic work.
- Mechanistic Effects of tesamorelin on hepatic transcriptomic signatures in HIV-associated NAFLD (2020) Paired liver biopsy analysis. Changes in oxidative phosphorylation, inflammatory, tissue-repair and fibrosis-related gene pathways.
- Meta-analysis Body composition, hepatic fat, metabolic and safety outcomes of tesamorelin in HIV-associated lipodystrophy: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (2026) Five RCTs pooled. Reductions in visceral fat, trunk fat, limb fat, hepatic fat percentage and waist circumference, with increased lean body mass.
- RCT Effects of tesamorelin on inflammatory markers in HIV patients with excess abdominal fat (2011) 410 HIV-infected patients. Inflammatory and fibrinolytic marker changes tied to visceral fat reduction.
- RCT Effects of tesamorelin on neurocognitive impairment in persons with HIV and abdominal obesity (2025) Open-label randomized phase 2 trial. Waist circumference improved, but neurocognitive benefit did not differ significantly from standard care.
- RCT Growth hormone-releasing hormone improves cognitive function in adults with mild cognitive impairment and healthy older adults (2012) 20-week cognition trial of GHRH analog therapy in older adults and mild cognitive impairment. Supportive but not settling.
- RCT The growth hormone releasing hormone analogue tesamorelin decreases muscle fat and increases muscle area in adults with HIV (2019) Exploratory secondary analysis. Responders had improved trunk muscle area and density against placebo.
- Review Tesamorelin: a review of its use in HIV-associated lipodystrophy (2011) Notes visceral fat reduction while on therapy and reaccumulation after discontinuation. This is the durability picture for the class.
- Label EGRIFTA WR prescribing label, FDA (2025) Current labeling: indication, limitations of use, contraindications, and warnings on neoplasm risk, IGF-1, glucose intolerance and fluid retention.
- Guideline Weight gain in people with HIV, DHHS and NIH adult and adolescent ART guidelines (2025) Names tesamorelin as the only US FDA-approved therapy for excessive abdominal fat in people with HIV, and notes reversal after discontinuation.
- Trial Longtime administration of GHRH does not restore reduced efficiency of GHRH on sleep endocrine activity in old-aged subjects (1997) GHRH and sleep-endocrine physiology. The only sleep evidence in either record, and it points against a sustained sleep benefit in older subjects.
- Regulatory WADA 2026 Prohibited List, growth hormone-releasing factors (2026) Growth hormone-releasing hormone analogs, including both compounds in this comparison, are prohibited at all times in tested sport.
Glossary
Quick reference for the medical and technical terms used in this comparison.
- GHRH Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone
- The hypothalamic hormone that tells the pituitary to release growth hormone. Both compounds here are synthetic analogs of it, which is why they hit the same receptor.
- DAC Drug Affinity Complex
- The albumin-binding tail on the long-acting version of CJC-1295. It stretches the estimated half-life to 5.8 to 8.1 days and allows weekly dosing.
- Mod-GRF 1-29 Modified Growth Hormone-Releasing Factor 1-29
- The no-DAC, short-acting form of CJC-1295. Dosed at 100 mcg one to three times daily and the dominant community protocol.
- IGF-1 Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1
- The liver-made hormone that carries most of growth hormone's downstream effects. It is the marker you track on either compound and the source of most of the risk.
- VAT Visceral Adipose Tissue
- Deep abdominal fat around the organs, the endpoint tesamorelin's Phase 3 trials measured. Distinct from the subcutaneous fat you can pinch.
- NAFLD Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
- Fat accumulation in the liver without alcohol as the cause, now often called MASLD. Tesamorelin has a randomized trial here, Stanley 2019.
- MCI Mild Cognitive Impairment
- Measurable cognitive decline that has not reached dementia. The population in Baker 2012, the one positive cognition trial in this comparison.
- API Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient
- The actual drug substance in a product. The FDA's compounding listing names API characterization as a specific CJC-1295 problem, which is why purity testing is mandatory.
- WADA World Anti-Doping Agency
- The body that sets the prohibited list for tested sport. Growth hormone-releasing factors are banned at all times, which covers both compounds here.
