We know that human growth is a complex physiological process, and height is the result of a series of factors. There are many reasons for children’s short stature, such as genetic factors, metabolic diseases and nutritional deficiencies. In this issue, we have organized a lot of parents often have doubts when it comes to medical care, and talk to you about the matter of children’s height.
What should I do if my child is “late growing”?
“Late growth” is a common term for delayed physical growth, and doctors often hear the concerns of parents of such children. Generally, the parents of these children are of normal height, but the child grows a little slower each year, entering puberty later than their peers, and the bone age will also lag behind the actual age. Once puberty begins, the growth rate will accelerate and eventually reach the height of an adult.
Some children are affected by both familial short stature and delayed growth during puberty, making them even shorter in childhood. However, parents should not blindly draw conclusions about their children based on their own experience, but should always go to a regular medical institution and let the doctor make a judgment so as not to miss the best time for treatment.
Do children with “late growth” need treatment?
When you come to the hospital, first of all, the doctor will do a growth hormone stimulation test to rule out growth hormone deficiency (pituitary dwarfism).
If there is only a delay in physical growth, the growth hormone test result may be low before puberty, and the growth hormone level will return to normal by puberty.
Next, check for hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism occurs in childhood and is characterized by slowed height growth and short stature. Girls are checked for chromosomes to rule out Turner syndrome. The main feature of this disease is short stature. Children with Turner syndrome often lack a youthful growth spurt without normal pubertal development, and the growth lag is more pronounced during puberty, with delayed epiphyseal closure. Experience with treatment over the years has confirmed that growth hormone therapy is effective.
Bone density testing is also required to determine the bone age of the child. If the bone age is 2 to 3 years behind, it indicates that the child has growth potential, as the bone age is close to closing after the age of 16 and cannot grow any taller.
It is normal to have delayed sexual development during puberty, usually before the age of 16 for girls and 18 for boys. If puberty does not occur by the age of 19, it may be due to gonadotropin deficiency and a sex hormone test should be done.
If, after the tests mentioned above, other diseases are ruled out, combined with the characteristics of delayed somatic development and the history of “late growth” of the parents during puberty, parents can wait for their child’s natural growth and development, and visit the doctor regularly to monitor height.
“Late growth” is the type of normal growth that does not usually require treatment. However, these children are small and slow to mature, and may be mentally burdened or even traumatized by the fact that they are different from others. Therefore, it is important for both parents and children to understand this type of growth. Parents can encourage and comfort their children and take them to the doctor regularly for height testing to relieve their psychological burden through authoritative explanations from the doctor. The doctor will give advice on medication to see if the child needs treatment in the light of the actual situation. Reasonable treatment can promote faster growth in these children.
What are the common diseases that cause dwarfism?
There are many causes of short stature, including growth hormone deficiency, less than fetal age children, idiopathic dwarfism, precocious puberty, Turner syndrome, congenital chondrodysplasia, etc., but the more common ones clinically are as follows.
I. Genetic and family factors. If there are members of the family with short stature, the next generation is more likely to suffer from dwarfism. However, genetic factors can also be influenced by environmental factors of growth later in life.
Weight and length at birth. If a child’s weight at birth is lower than normal birth weight, most of these children are shorter than those with normal birth weight and height at all ages and in their final adulthood.
Third, nutrition and disease. The mother’s nutrition during pregnancy is crucial to the growth of the fetus, if the mother has severe malnutrition during pregnancy, or chronic heart, lung, liver and kidney disease, may cause fetal growth disorders, making the child in the fetal period as well as after birth height are below normal levels. Some endocrine diseases, such as growth hormone, which is closely related to height growth after birth, may cause short stature in children if there is a lack of growth hormone, and thyroxine, which regulates the body’s metabolism, may not only cause short stature in children, but may also seriously affect their intellectual development.
Common misconceptions about dwarfism
In fact, whether it is a physical “late growth” or Turner syndrome, it is not terrible. However, many parents take a chance and treat “short” as “late growth”, thinking that it is okay for children to be short when they are young, and that they will catch up when they develop later, imagining that their children will have an unexpectedly long adolescent period.
Doctors suggest that parents should regularly test their children’s height and calculate their growth rate. It is important to seek medical attention as early as possible to clarify the cause and early standardized treatment to avoid delaying the growth of the child, which not only has good treatment effect but also saves money.
In addition, because parents are not aware of the diagnostic criteria for dwarfism, they often think that their child’s height is below the class average for dwarfism. However, with the improvement of people’s living standard in China, the average height of children is increasing significantly, but it also makes the whole society’s expectation of height increase, thus more and more children are added to the group of people who are suffering from short stature. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen health education in this area.
Other misconceptions include: the more calcium supplementation is good for children’s height; the more protein content is good for children’s height; any short stature must be treated with drugs; as long as the drugs can promote growth can help to grow taller; height comes entirely from congenital genetics and cannot be remedied later in life, etc.. These misconceptions are being exploited by many unscrupulous businesses, and ultimately make these children and parents fall into the so-called “increase { trap.
Is it safe to treat with hormones?
Many parents are afraid to talk about “hormones”, but this “hormone” is not another “hormone”. However, this “hormone” is not another “hormone”, but what we call human growth hormone (GH) is a protein secreted by the anterior pituitary gland, which is the most important substance to promote growth after birth. After more than 30 years of clinical observation, the European Society of Pediatric Endocrinology officially declared in 1993 that recombinant human growth hormone has a very good safety profile when used in conventional replacement therapy.
Hormones are the main substances regulating metabolism in the body, and their secretion sites play different physiological roles, for example, thyroid gland secretes thyroid hormone and adrenal cortex secretes adrenocorticotropic hormone. Genetically recombinant human growth hormone has exactly the same structure as the GH protein naturally secreted by the human body and has 100% biological activity. Since it is not an allogeneic protein and the dose usually used is the minimum effective amount, it is not harmful to the human body.
Growth hormone is safe and effective for treating dwarfism, but the dosage needs to be at the discretion of the doctor according to the child’s condition, so parents should always seek medical advice from a professional hospital and doctor.