As long as the height is lower than two standard deviations from the average height of the same region, race, age and gender or lower than the third percentile of the height curve of the population (in layman’s terms, it is the last three people in the queue of a hundred such children according to their size) it is medically called dwarfism.
There are many causes of dwarfism, and good results can only be achieved if the treatment is directed at the cause. It does not exist yet and it is unlikely that one drug will exist in the future to treat all causes of dwarfism.
Common causes of dwarfism are: a. Endocrine dwarfism: such as growth hormone deficiency, low thyroid hormone, etc. The diagnosis can be confirmed by growth hormone stimulation test and thyroid hormone test. Growth hormone or thyroxine can be used to obtain good results. Low adult height due to precocious puberty also falls into this category. Precocious puberty is different from general dwarfism. Due to early development, the height during the growth period can be higher than that of the same age group, but growth stops early and the final height is often shorter. The application of gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues can make pubertal development stop rapidly for more time to grow taller, thus improving adult height.
(2) Hereditary short stature: Except for a few that can be detected in families with the same disease, most lack effective treatment.
Nutritional short stature: It is rare nowadays. General “picky eating” does not cause short stature and is only seen in patients with long-term chronic diseases. These patients do not need to be treated for height increase, as long as the original disease is effectively treated and nutrition is adjusted, they can grow taller.
Intrauterine growth retardation: the child was born with low length and weight, and failed to achieve effective catch-up within six months after birth, and the adult height is also low. Growth hormone has a certain role in improving adult height for such patients.
V. Chromosomal diseases: such as Turner syndrome and Down syndrome, which can be diagnosed by chromosomal examination. Depending on the type of disease, treatment methods and effects are different.
Sixth, genetic metabolic diseases: such as stupid acetonuria, mucopolysaccharidosis. Such patients are currently poorly treated for augmentation.
Seven, physical puberty delay: the so-called “late growth”, this category of people often have a family history, generally do not need treatment, and eventually can reach normal height. If you suspect this type, you should regularly check your bone age and make annual height predictions.
Skeletal system diseases: such as chondrodysplasia, osteogenesis imperfecta, etc., which are still lack of effective treatment.
Since there are many causes of dwarfism, there are still many people who cannot find out the specific cause of dwarfism. In July 2003, the U.S. FDA officially approved growth hormone for the treatment of non-growth hormone deficiency dwarfism. However, in this case, the efficacy is often inferior to that of growth hormone deficient individuals.