Growth hormone deficiency

Growth hormone is mainly a type of hormone secreted by the pituitary gland. It mainly dominates human growth and development as well as common functional growth. Therefore, growth hormone has high clinical significance for the human body. A common disease in life is growth hormone deficiency. Growth hormone promotes human growth. There are many factors that affect height. In children and adolescents, it is mainly due to insufficient or lack of pituitary secretion that will affect growth.

Other causes of growth hormone deficiency include malnutrition, racial genetics, and socio-psychological factors. Specific diseases including endocrine and brain diseases can lead to some growth hormone deficiencies, so deficiency in life is also a common manifestation.

Children with idiopathic growth hormone deficiency are often of normal height and weight at birth. Their growth and development begin to slow down after a few months, but it is often not noticed. The difference between them and children of the same age becomes more obvious after 2 to 3 years old. However, growth does not stop completely, but the growth rate is extremely slow, usually not exceeding 4 to 5 cm per year. Adult height generally does not exceed 130cm. The bone age is immature, the epiphysis does not fuse for a long time, and the teeth mature slowly. The body shape is generally well-proportioned, and most people still maintain the body shape and appearance of their childhood after adulthood. The skin is delicate and dry, with wrinkles, and the subcutaneous fat may be slightly plump.

By the time patients reach puberty, their sexual organs have not developed and secondary sexual characteristics are absent. The male genitals are small, similar to those of a child, with small testicles, often accompanied by cryptorchidism, and no beard; females show primary amenorrhea and underdeveloped breasts. Individuals with growth hormone deficiency may experience development of sexual organs and secondary sexual characteristics, but the development is often significantly delayed. Some patients also have symptoms of TSH and/or adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) deficiency, but most of them are only discovered during endocrine hormone testing.

Their intellectual development is generally normal, and their academic performance is no different from that of their peers. However, when they get older, they often become depressed, unsociable, and have a sense of inferiority due to their short stature.

The above are the common symptoms of growth hormone deficiency. The main symptoms are normal intellectual development, but because of short stature, the child is not sociable and has autism. It is mainly supplemented with some drugs. Now in terms of preventive care, there are obvious family inheritances, so some chromosome tests can be done and some health care can be done to avoid some brain damage. Therefore, diseases in daily life must be checked in time.