Due to the production of genetically engineered recombinant human growth hormone (hereafter referred to as growth hormone hGH), the price of growth hormone has been reduced and the treatment of various dwarf diseases with growth hormone has been promoted. So far, it has been confirmed that treatment with growth hormone is effective for dwarfism caused by the following diseases: Zhang Guiping, Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical College (1) Pituitary dwarf If treatment starts at an early age and the dosage of growth hormone is sufficient, treatment continues until puberty when the patient no longer grows taller, or the time to stop treatment is decided according to the family’s economic situation and parents’ expectations. In pituitary dwarf, the height of the adult can be fully achieved.
(2) Congenital Ovarian Hypoplasia Patients are short in stature and have an average adult height of 143 cm if left untreated. If treated properly with growth hormone, height can be increased by 10~16 cm. While improving height, pubertal development, replacement therapy with estrogen can eventually make the affected children reach the standard of normal appearance, greatly relieving the social pressure of the affected children and their parents and improving their living condition.
(3) Children with dwarfism younger than gestational age Dwarfism is caused by intrauterine growth retardation, with a weight of less than 2.5 kg at full-term birth. About 15% of these children continue to be short after birth, and when growth catch-up is not achieved after 2 years of age, it can affect their lifelong height in the future. The latest findings prove that growth hormone can promote the growth of such short children.
(4) Chronic renal insufficiency-induced dwarfism Some study results reported that children with growth retardation due to this disease treated with growth hormone had accelerated height growth of 3-6 cm per year compared to those who had not been treated with growth hormone.
(5) Idiopathic dwarfism Treatment results are inconsistent across reports. Lifetime height improvement has been reported with higher doses.