What is a Peptide?

A peptide is a molecule that signals other cells and molecules within the human body to perform a specific function. It is made from a short chain of naturally-occurring amino acids (usually less than 40 amino acids long). There are hundreds of different types of peptides found in cells and tissues that play important roles in biological processes across the human body.

Why are peptides important for my overall health?

Peptide levels can be affected by the aging process, the development of sickness or disease, or other outside insults. If peptide levels become low enough, signaling within and between the body’s different organ systems and cells can be lost. If this signaling is disrupted, the result is impaired function and the development of symptoms.

Examples of symptoms which can result from disrupted peptide levels:

What is peptide therapy?

Peptide therapy, at its core, performs one critical action in the body: it restores signaling.
By supplementing an individual’s peptide levels with replacement therapy, the body can repair and restore its own signaling, allowing it to heal and reach “homeostasis”.

Homeostasis is a term describing the body’s way of keeping its internal conditions stable and balanced, for optimal health and function, despite changes in the external environment. 

Depending on the individual’s treatment goal, a therapeutic trial of peptide(s) and alternative/traditional therapy options can be combined to correct whole-body signaling and treat the source of the problem or condition. Therapy aims to provide both symptom relief and improved quality of life for the individual.

In what ways have peptides been used in medicine?

Peptides therapies have been used across a wide range of fields and diseases.

One well-known example is insulin, an injectable peptide derived from an animal pancreas, that was first used to treat diabetes in 1921 by scientists from the University of Toronto.
Other examples of peptide treatments include using oxytocin to induce labor in pregnant women and the use of semaglutide for the control of blood sugar in diabetics or weight loss in non-diabetic patients.

Other specialties that currently utilize peptide therapeutics in combination with traditional and alternative treatment options include: