Last week, the Ministry of Health released the first report on the nutritional development of children aged 0 to 6 years old in China, and the data showed that the growth retardation rate of children under 5 years old in China dropped by 70% in 2010 compared to two decades ago, and the growth retardation rate is lower than most developing countries. However, many parents are still worried that their children will lose at the starting line, and when some parents find a gap between their children’s height and that of their peers, they always hope to help their children grow taller through some kind of medical shortcut. At present, there are many kinds of growth hormones on the market that claim to help children grow taller quickly, so what is the efficacy of these growth hormones and are they really the miracle drugs that children can use to increase their height?
Growth hormone pills
Nine-year-old boy is 1m29m tall and the clinic recommends hormones to increase his height
In a child growth and development clinic, the reporter met with Jie, a nine-year-old boy who has been short in class, so his parents brought him to the clinic in hopes of finding out the cause of his short height.
The clinic claims on its website that the height increase system they use is derived from Nobel technology and has allowed 100,000 teenagers to successfully increase their height. It activates the activity of the growth hormone receptor, so that the growth hormone can be efficiently carried to the surface of the target cell membrane to make the youth height and intelligence growth in both directions. But at the site, the nurse’s statement was different from the propaganda on the website.
It turns out that the clinic has enabled 100,000 teenagers to successfully increase their height by using growth hormone treatment, which is no different from the current clinical treatment for short stature caused by growth hormone deficiency. However, the clinic’s nurse said that they would strictly follow the requirements for the use of growth hormone and would never abuse it.
After the nurse measured Jie’s height, the nine-year-old was now 1 meter 29, and after learning his height, the clinic’s doctor began advising his parents to give him growth hormone injections.
Scientific Answer
Lack of growth hormone causes dwarfism in a small percentage of the population
In fact, in regular hospitals, to determine whether a patient with short stature is suffering from growth hormone deficiency, a growth hormone stimulation test must be conducted in the body, and after the test, blood is drawn to determine the concentration of growth hormone in the blood, and then a conclusion is drawn, not through bone age.
Since adolescent dwarfism may be caused by genetic, endocrine, nutritional and metabolic factors, a small or large bone age can only be used as a reference to determine whether growth hormone can be used to increase height, but not as a basis. Clinical studies have shown that the percentage of patients diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency in all patients with dwarfism is not large. An analysis of the etiology of 523 cases of children with short stature by the Department of Endocrinology of the Pediatric Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai showed that only 115 of them had growth hormone deficiency, accounting for 21.99% of the total. In other words, not everyone with dwarfism is suitable for growth hormone treatment.
The reality
Parents should not “pull out the seeds” to increase height, there is no “panacea”
It is known that growth hormone injections are effective in treating dwarfism caused by growth hormone deficiency. Because of this, the effect of growth hormone has been artificially exaggerated, and in some clinics and outpatient departments, growth hormone has even been blown up as a “magic pill” for height increase. In fact, such drugs are only suitable for short stature caused by growth hormone deficiency, and are not a “magic pill” for growth. Experts point out that if used blindly, it will definitely bring harm to children.
According to the relevant medical definition, children whose height value is within 3% of the height value of normal healthy children of the same age and gender belong to children with short stature, and the medical term for these children is the third percentile height average. The third percentile height value for a healthy 9-year-old boy in China is 123.9 cm. Although Jie’s height is lower than the standard height value of 135.4 cm for children of the same age, it is still 5 cm higher than the third percentile value. Therefore, Jie’s parents suggested that their child did not have a short stature and should not be injected with growth hormone without knowing for sure whether he was deficient in growth hormone. However, the doctor said that Jie needed growth hormone injections as soon as possible.
The foul play behind the scenes
The diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency required at least $8,000 for treatment
At the child growth clinic where Jie went, although the doctor did not ask him to undergo a growth hormone stimulation test nor did he make a final decision on whether he was suffering from growth hormone deficiency by drawing blood, the nurse had estimated how much growth hormone he needed to inject every day and the related costs.
At present, the clinical use of growth hormone is a three-month course of treatment, which means that once a child is diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency, he or she needs to spend at least $8,000 or more for treatment, and once the child’s injection cycle is extended, the cost to parents is even more. The reporter visited and communicated with several clinics and outpatient clinics and found that their practices were similar to the one Jie went to, as they all persuaded parents to give their children more growth hormone injections without confirming whether the child was deficient in growth hormone, and some even dispensed with the necessary tests.
Medical experts tell us that if growth hormone is used incorrectly for treatment, it will not only fail to grow taller, but may also cause unexpected harm.
Counterfactuals
Blind hormone height increase causes adverse reactions
In the endocrinology department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, the reporter met a 21-year-old college student, Xiao Li, who was waiting at the entrance of the clinic, and although he was 1.69 meters tall, he always felt inferior about his height. Due to his lack of confidence in his height, Xiao Li also hoped to increase his height through growth hormone injection, but Professor Wu rejected his idea after seeing his bone age film.
The chief physician of the department, Professor Xueyan Wu, pointed out that even in the case of lack of growth hormone in the human body, further observation of whether the epiphysis is closed or not is needed before a final decision can be made as to whether the height can be increased through growth hormone injections. Only when both conditions are present will growth hormone supplementation achieve good results. For people like Xiao Li, whose bones are already set, if they blindly supplement growth hormone, it will be counterproductive. Professor Wu’s reminder reminded Xiao Li of the symptoms he experienced a year ago after taking a certain kind of height-enhancing health product. At that time, not only did he not grow taller after taking it, but also had the adverse reactions mentioned by Professor Wu at the end of his fingers.
Experts reminded
Growth hormone height increase to have professional guidance
At present, in addition to some outpatient clinics and clinics abusing growth hormone, some websites are also selling so-called height-enhancing health products, some of which boast that they can gain at least 3-5 cm in height after use, while others claim that they can grow taller before the age of 25 after using the products. Experts say that the discomfort that many consumers experience after taking such height-enhancing drugs and supplements is related to the fact that the products may contain some kind of growth hormone.
The analysis report from the Department of Endocrinology of the Affiliated Pediatric Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai shows that among 523 cases of short stature, growth hormone deficiency, delayed somatic puberty and familial dwarfism are the three major causes of morbidity. For the latter two types of dwarfism, there is no need to use growth hormone at all. There are still more cases of growth hormone abuse through oral and injections in the market. Therefore, relevant experts point out that patients must not use growth hormone blindly.
According to the reporter’s investigation, growth hormone is definitely not a panacea to guarantee that all people with short stature will grow taller. Only specific patients with dwarfism can use growth hormone within a specific period of time and in strict accordance with the doctor’s instructions, and only then can they achieve the purpose of growing taller. Medical experts remind patients who wish to grow taller with growth hormone to go to a regular hospital to find a professional doctor and determine whether they are suitable for growth hormone treatment after a professional examination, so that they can get a better treatment effect with the right medicine.