Short stature refers to individuals of the same race, sex and age whose height is lower than the average height of the normal population by 2 standard deviations (-2SD) or lower than the 3rd percentile (-1.88SD) in a similar living environment, some of which are normal physiological variants. For proper diagnosis, appropriate clinical observation and laboratory tests must be performed on children with growth retardation. At the same time, growth less than 4-5 cm per year from 3 years old to prepubertal age and less than 5-6 cm per year during puberty is called growth retardation.
In the eyes of people with “dwarfism”, the world seems to be a little too tall, and their short size makes it difficult for them to pursue school, work and love. In Weifang City, there is an increasing trend of dwarfism, which has become another big enemy of children’s health after obesity and precocity. But because parents have always believed that dwarfism is untreatable, not many patients come to receive treatment. In addition to genetics and nutritional status, growth hormone deficiency, precocious puberty, congenital ovarian insufficiency syndrome, hypothyroidism and cranio-cerebral tumors are also factors that cause short stature.
Half of the causes of “short stature” are due to the lack of or insufficient secretion of growth hormone, and without growth hormone replacement therapy, the final height can only reach about 1.40 meters. There is a golden dividing line for determining children’s short stature, which is 4 years old. Parents should take their children to the hospital for checkups when they are 10 cm shorter than other children at the age of 1~2 and 5 cm shorter than other children after the age of 2. It should be reminded that during the final stage of height growth – the limited time when the bone age is about to close – the reasonable application of medication such as growth hormone for treatment can promote the growth of the child’s height. Parents should never blindly wait or try to take all kinds of health care height enhancement products. The ingredients of health care height enhancement products on the market are unknown, which not only cannot improve the child’s height, but will instead promote bone age maturation and ultimately delay the child.
During the summer and winter holidays, school-age children’s height development is diagnosed at its peak, and the number of dwarfism clinics in a day can reach almost three times more than the usual number of clinics, of which 20% of dwarf children have a history of dwarfism or endocrine metabolism.
There are various clinical causes of dwarfism, except for a few genetic factors, the most common ones are as follows: 1) chronic diseases that lead to short height development, such as heart disease, chronic nephritis, digestive system diseases and other chronic diseases; 2) endocrine metabolism problems, such as pituitary gland dysplasia that cannot secrete growth hormone normally, thyroid hormone deficiency, adrenal gland diseases, etc. If the child is not corrected in time, the child will eventually become a real dwarf. 3~12 years old is the best time to intervene in the child’s dwarfism, the earlier the dwarfism is treated, the better the effect and the lower the cost. If your child has been sitting in the first row of the class for a long time, or has grown less than 5 cm a year, it is best for parents to take your child to the hospital as soon as possible.