One of the current treatments for short stature in Chinese children is the use of growth hormone (GH), which has a more definite effect on all kinds of growth retardation, while not promoting bone healing.
Scientists knew about the existence of human growth hormone as early as 1920, and human growth hormone was first extracted from the human pituitary gland in 1956, but it was not used for clinical treatment until 1958. However, after several years of using the growth hormone thus extracted, several users were found to have contracted a fatal virus, and the patients suffered progressive muscle atrophy with dementia and died of what was later confirmed to be mad cow disease a few years later. chronic viral encephalitis was found to have developed in patients treated with the extracted growth hormone in 1984, and its use was banned. In the 1980s, all extracted growth hormone from the pituitary gland of cadavers was stopped for human use.
In 1979, recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) was developed using recombinant genetic technology. After the 1980s, along with the rapid progress of biotechnology and the rapid development of genetic engineering, human growth hormone was finally produced by genetic technology in 1985, but the earliest human growth hormone produced was composed of 192 amino acids, which was more methionine than the natural human growth hormone, so it can be said that it was not completely successful. It was not until 1986 that the United States succeeded in producing human growth hormone with 191 amino acids. As a result, growth hormone could be manufactured in large quantities and used in clinical practice, and many adolescents with growth retardation caused by growth hormone deficiency were treated promptly and effectively.
Currently, recombinant human growth hormone is indicated for six pediatric indications: growth hormone deficiency (1985), chronic renal failure (1993), Turner syndrome (1996), Prader-Willi syndrome (2000), intrauterine growth retardation (in children younger than fetal age) (2001), idiopathic dwarfism (2003), in addition to idiopathic central precocious puberty ( ICPP), chondrodysplasia, and hypophosphatemic rickets have also been treated with growth hormone.
A comparison of the current treatment methods for short stature in Chinese children is as follows: Growth hormone (GH): It is effective for short stature due to various causes. Growth hormone is not only effective but also safe. Incomplete healing of the epiphysis is a prerequisite for the application of growth hormone. For children with height deficiency, the earlier the time of treatment, the more effective it is.
Sex hormone and its similar products: The main drugs used to treat short stature in China, which may have certain efficacy in the short term, but at the same time accelerate the closure of bone age, and have large side effects, leading to a reduction in final height.
Chinese herbal medicine: The efficacy is not exact, and most of the ingredients that work in Chinese herbal medicine are sex hormones or similar substances.
Epiphyseal distraction aids: painful for patients, limited height gain (4-8 cm), more complications (foot deformity, knee deformity, calf muscle weakness, blood circulation disorders), and higher costs.
The advantages of using growth hormone can be compared from this.
There are many hormones in the human body, which are secreted in different sites and have different physiological effects. Some people mistakenly believe that growth hormone is a hormonal drug with many side effects. People often refer to hormones that are secreted by the adrenal cortex, such as prednisone, dexamethasone, hydrocortisone, cortisone, etc. They can cause some adverse reactions in human body, such as full moon face, buffalo back, purple skin lines, no growth, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, etc. Growth hormone, on the other hand, is secreted by the human pituitary gland. It is the hormone that makes bones grow linearly in human body, and it is secreted by human itself, which is not a heterogeneous protein. Nowadays, growth hormone produced by E. coli secretion and expression technology, especially the aqueous growth hormone, has exactly the same protein structure as the growth hormone naturally secreted by human body and 100% biological activity, so it is safer to apply. At present, the method recommended by the Chinese Society of Endocrine Genetic Metabolism to treat short stature is to use growth hormone, which has more definite efficacy on all kinds of growth retardation without promoting epiphyseal healing. However, scientific and correct diagnosis and treatment must be made to clarify the cause of the disease and then develop a treatment plan.