Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency

Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency General Information

Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency usually develops when the patient’s secretion of growth hormone is disrupted during his childhood. Generally, growth hormone is produced by the pituitary gland and has a critical role in stimulating the patient’s body to grow and develop. This kind of hormone also has a role in the production of muscle protein and in the breakdown of fats. That is why a decreased level of growth hormone can cause abnormalities in the patient’s body processes affecting the growth and development, breakdown fats and secretion of muscle proteins. Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency is considered a rare disease; it generally develops during childhood. In most cases the main cause is deficiency of the pituitary gland or of the hypothalamus, which is a part of the patient’s brain that controls this gland.

A major symptom of this kind of condition is the slow growth of the patient, usually less than five centimeters a year. The Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency is usually diagnosed by applying special blood tests that help detect growth hormone into the patient’s bloodstream. Nowadays the disease is treated by administrating hormone therapy, which consists in applying injections of growth hormone including Nutropin. The hormone is administrated until the patient reaches his adult genetic normal height or until the bones finish growing around the age of 20 – 21 years old. This kind of disease usually affects young patients, but there are rare cases in which adults can also present the condition and may present diminished lean body mass and poor bone density.

Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency Symptoms

In most cases, the Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency is caused by genetic factors but there are other risk factors that can lead to the appearance of this kind of disease and can include mutations of specific genes, congenital malformations of the pituitary gland such as septo-optic dsyplasia and posterior pituitary ectopia, damage of the pituitary gland from certain intracranial disorder such as hydrocephalus, intracranial tumor in or near the sella turcica, particularly craniopharyngioma. Other causes that may lead to the developing of this medical disorder include: damage of the pituitary gland caused by radiation therapy to the patient’s head for leukemia or brain tumors, surgery in the area of the patient’s pituitary gland, autoimmune inflammation called hypophysitis, severe head trauma and ischemic or bleeding infraction from low blood pressure or bleeding pituitary apoplexy.

There are cases in which Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency is caused by other hormone deficiencies that can include thyrotropins which control the secretion of thyroid hormones, vasopressin which controls water balance in the patient’s body, gonadotropins which control the secretion of male and female sex hormones, ACTH or andrenocorticotrophic hormone which controls the secretion of cortisol, DHEA and other hormones. In the first stages of the Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency there are no obvious signs and symptoms but as it progresses the patient starts to experience certain signs and symptoms that can include absent or delayed sexual development in an adolescent, excessive thirst with excessive urination, headaches, increased urine volume, short stature under 5 cm than the normal height, slow growth before five years old, and slowed or absent increase in height.

Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency Treatment

If the patient is suffering from Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency the first treatment option is injection of growth hormone called somatotropin beneath the skin. It acts by promoting growth causing a more normal height in small patients. If the disease affects an adult, the first treatment option is to replace the hormone but it does not have the effect of promoting growth. There are also cases in which this kind of procedure, of replacing the hormones, can cause severe complications. To avoid the complications an endocrinologist has to monitor the patient’s levels of hormones into the blood. These tests are usually made every two weeks after the start of the treatment. There are favorable cases in which the test is done only once a year. Depending on the severity of the patient’s Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency the doctor can adjust the doses especially if the patient experiences chronic illnesses or major physical stress. Doctors should also adjust the doses of the treatment if the patient suffers from certain conditions or presents abnormal signs and symptoms and can include flu, diarrhea, vomiting, or if he had a surgical or dental procedures. Once the treatment of hormone replacement has begun the outlook is considered excellent and can provide symptom disappearance for log term.

Like any other treatment, hormone therapies can cause many side effects. In most cases, the side effects caused by the hormone replacement do not need medical attention and go away during the treatment due to body adjustment to the medicine. If a patient who suffers from Turner’s syndrome is also affected by the Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency, during the treatment, he can develop ear infections or other ear disorders. Less encountered side effects during the treatment can include changes in vision, abdominal pain, bloating, depression in the skin, pain or swelling in the area which has been affected by the disease, headache, nausea, vomiting, pain in the hip or knee area, skin rash and itching. In rarer cases, the treatment for the Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency can cause severe side effects that have to be treated differently and can include carpal tunnel syndrome, enlargement of breasts, increased growth of birthmarks, joint and muscle pain, swelling of the patient’s hands, feet and lower legs. The bad part about the hormone replacement procedure is the high cost of performing it. Many patients refuse to have the procedure only because the cost is too high and the effort and quality of life after the treatment therapies are applied change.

There are cases in which the doctors have to administrate a treatment therapy with insulin to speed up the effects, besides the somatotropin injections. In most cases, the average dose of hormone that is injected is three injections per week. Despite the benefits that the treatment provides, certain patients are not treated for Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency because of the combination of factors such as unwillingness, unacceptability of injections, inadequate insurance coverage and increased lower rates of diagnosis and treatment assured by the doctors.