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Growth Hormone Disorders Treatment
As the name implies, growth hormone deficiency results when the pituitary gland doesn’t produce enough growth hormone to stimulate the body to grow. This can result in noticeably short stature in children.
- Growth hormone deficiency may be partial (the pituitary gland produces insufficient amounts of growth hormone) or total (the pituitary gland produces no growth hormone).
- Growth hormone deficiency may occur during infancy or later in childhood.
- About one in 4,000 to 10,000 children have growth hormone deficiency.
What are the symptoms of growth hormone deficiency?
Since growth takes place over many years and since children grow at different rates, symptoms of growth hormone deficiency may be hard to identify. In addition to noticeably slow growth with normal body proportions, signs may include:
- immature appearance, compared to peers
- a chubby body build
- a prominent forehead
- an underdeveloped bridge of the nose
Growth hormone deficiency has no effect on a child’s intelligence.
These symptoms may resemble other conditions, so be sure to always consult your child’s physician for a diagnosis.
What causes growth hormone deficiency?
Damage to the pituitary gland or hypothalamus may be the result of an abnormal formation that occurred before your child was born (congenital) or something that occurred during or after birth (acquired).
Congenital growth hormone deficiency can occur if there are mutations in genes for factors that are important in pituitary gland development, or in receptors and factors (including growth hormone) along the growth hormone pathway; to date, however, the cause of most of these cases is unknown.
Acquired causes of growth hormone deficiency include:
- a brain tumor in the hypothalamus or pituitary
- head trauma
- radiation therapy for cancers, if the treatment field includes the hypothalamus and pituitary
- diseases that infiltrate the hypothalamus or its connection to the pituitary gland, such as histiocytosis
- an autoimmune condition (lymphocytic hypophysitis)
It’s also important to remember that growth hormone deficiency is only one of many conditions that may affect your child’s growth. Your child’s short stature may be caused by other syndromes, and growth failure may be due to decreased nutritional intake, gastrointestinal disorders, diseases that have increased metabolic demand..