What are the causes of short stature? This is the most important question for many people who are not very satisfied with their own height or the height of their children or friends in real life, here we will tell you about the causes of short stature, and we hope that through our explanation, you will be able to understand this.
What are the causes of short stature?
1. Short stature secondary to systemic diseases. Common diseases include chronic malnutrition, severe anemia, rickets, tuberculosis, recurrent respiratory infections and chronic liver and kidney diseases. If the growth is delayed due to malnutrition or excessive consumption caused by the disease, the primary disease should be actively treated.
2. Emotional deprivation short stature. Due to the stimulation of psychosocial factors such as family breakup or disharmony and loss of mother’s love, the hypothalamus secretes less growth hormone releasing factor, resulting in short stature.
3.Hereditary short stature. It is familial or racial, and most of the members in the family are short in stature, related to the short stature of parents. The height of the child is always at a low level, but the growth rate is normal, intelligence, secondary sexual characteristics and sexual organs are well developed, no treatment is needed, and growth hormone treatment is ineffective.
4.Physical delay in puberty development. It accounts for about 30% of the population with short stature, mostly seen in boys, and is familial. The birth weight is normal, but the growth rate is slow, and the puberty is delayed by 2 to 4 years, and the height, bone age and sexual development are delayed. Sexual development starts only at the age of 16 to 18 years, when growth is rapid, and after puberty, height and sexual development can reach normal levels, and intelligence is normal. Such children with short body should not abuse growth hormone to avoid speeding up epiphyseal healing and limiting the process of height growth, which will result in a lower final height.
5. Low birth weight. The mother in pregnancy malnutrition, disease, placental insufficiency and other reasons, so that the fetus intrauterine development disorders, the birth weight, length are lower than normal, such as simple low birth weight and not accompanied by congenital malformations, part of the children in the postnatal development of normal children, but there are still some children always remain in the 3rd percentile below, but with normal growth rate development, to adulthood is still in the normal low level. Such children should take active health care measures from birth, such as strengthening nutrition, physical exercise, and disease prevention, to catch up with growth, and the prognosis is still good without medication.
6. Pituitary dwarfism. It is caused by insufficient secretion of growth hormone in the anterior pituitary gland, with proportional body shape, slow growth rate and delayed bone age. It can be treated with growth hormone.
7. Chromosomal disorders: trisomy 21, congenital ovarian hypoplasia, etc., all have slowed growth, short stature, mental retardation and special facial features, but normal body shape. In congenital ovarian hypoplasia, oral estrogen can be given during puberty to stimulate breast and genital development.
How to deal with short stature?
1.Children should be monitored effectively and dynamically, and their growing height should be recorded and analyzed in time.
2.It is necessary to strengthen and improve the nutritional status of children so that their growth and development are on a good nutritional basis.
3.Actively prevent and treat chronic diseases. Effective treatment of multiple chronic diseases can avoid and reduce the occurrence of dwarfism.
4.Make children have a good psychological, social and emotional atmosphere.
5.Correct endocrine hormone abnormalities. Low growth hormone and thyroid hormone are the common causes of dwarfism.
6.Chondrogenic abnormalities are mainly due to vitamin D deficiency or incomplete action, thus causing imbalance of calcium and phosphorus metabolism in the body, which in turn affects bone development. Supplementation with cod liver oil, calcium supplements, frequent sun exposure and vitamin D supplementation or active D3 are effective.
7.Children with growth hormone level problems are treated with growth hormone supplementation in a timely manner.