“One huge downside is that we don’t have long-term data about its effects on people,” Dr.
Generally, a child who undergoes growth hormone treatment for three to four years for idiopathic short stature may see their final height improved by two to four inches.Īnother thing to consider when weighing the use of growth hormones is that the treatment is relatively new, having only been used for about 35 years. Results will vary among individuals, but this treatment tends to work best in children who have growth hormone deficiency rather than if their short stature has a different root cause. But if the child does respond and there is improvement in growth velocity, then we generally will continue to treat until bones fuse, which is around age 16 for boys and 14 for girls.” Children who have growth hormone deficiency may need treatment for life. If your child is not responding, I would not see a reason to continue a daily shot. “It depends on the diagnosis and response to the treatment. “I tell them this is not forever,” says Dr. Growth hormones can be used to treat children as young as infants and, depending on the response, may be administered through puberty – so a child may be getting daily injections for many years. After six months to one year of treatment, the doctor determines whether it is helping and, depending on the results, whether to continue treatment. Children being treated for short stature with growth hormone require daily injections, along with regular doctor visits to monitor their reaction. In addition to costing more than tens of thousands of dollars per year, growth hormone treatment is intense. Growth hormone is expensive, and health insurance coverage varies widely depending on a person’s diagnosis and insurance plan. The decision to treat with growth hormone can be a complicated one.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in treating a number of causes of short stature, including idiopathic short stature, growth hormone deficiency, Turner syndrome, Prader Willi, Noonan Syndrome, chronic renal disease and when a child is born small for gestational age without catch-up growth. “That can be reversed just by removing them from the stressful environment.” “Whether it be exposure to violence because of war or famine or just being in a home environment that’s not very nurturing, children can experience a psychosocial stress that keeps them from growing properly,” Dr. Whether caused by an inadequate food supply, an eating disorder, or an underlying condition or treatment that affects appetite, lack of nourishment is a common cause of growth delay. Some children simply don't produce enough growth hormone, including those born with a poorly developed pituitary gland. Many other conditions can also delay the growth rate, including hypothyroidism, heart disease, kidney disease, immunological disease and several other endocrine disorders. Gastrointestinal diseases that impair nutrition, such as inflammatory bowel disease and celiac can affect growth, can also be a cause. For example, radiation to the brain can affect pituitary function, so pediatric cancer or its treatment can lead to short stature. Therefore, chronic medical problems that affect the pituitary gland may also affect growth. Growth hormone is produced by the pituitary gland, located in the middle of the brain.
Several genetic syndromes can lead to short stature, including Prader-Willi syndrome, Turner syndrome and Noonan syndrome. Also, the target height is merely an estimate and some children simply don't grow as tall as expected. When a child’s parents and grandparents are short, the child may also be short this is known as familial short stature. Some of the reasons growth development may slow include: "This is what a lot of people call being a late bloomer," explains Dr. Sometimes it’s just a constitutional delay, meaning a child’s bone age and puberty time might lag behind peers, but that he or she is going to get there eventually. The causes of short stature vary greatly from child to child.
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