Growth hormone deficiency occurs when someone’s pituitary gland doesn’t produce enough hormones, resulting in a lack of growth. Children with this hormone deficiency usually grow shorter than their peers but retain standard body proportions. This differentiates it from other forms of dwarfism, such as achondroplasia, where the body proportions are nonstandard. GHD is rare, affecting only about one in 10,000 people in the United States.
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The Symptoms
Decreased Muscle Mass
Despite a person’s body retaining standard proportions regarding the length of arms and legs and the size of the torso and head, the person’s small size results in correspondingly small muscles. Therefore, the person’s strength and endurance will not be as great as average height.
Weight Gain
People with GHD sometimes gain weight because the condition causes the body to retain more fat than people of average height do with the same diet. This weight gain mostly occurs around the waist in people with GHD. The weight gain can contribute to feelings of inadequacy and shame because the person “gets fat.” The person is almost always not at fault and would gain weight no matter what kind of diet the person followed.
Anxiety and/or Depressive Disorder
In some instances, these mental-health conditions arise because of the person’s inability to control their frustration and emotion at their situation. In other cases, they arise because of a physical cause tied to GHD. A doctor will have to evaluate the person to determine which reason applies. In rare situations, the person could experience mental health conditions for both reasons.
Fatigue and Low Energy
The symptoms of fatigue and low energy usually occur when the person develops GHD later in life and not in congenital cases. The symptoms come about because these people with GHD have trouble sleeping, which leads to the characteristic lack of daytime energy. The lack of good sleep, along with other characteristics of the condition, can also lead to impaired cognition and possibly other mental health diagnoses.
Thin, Dry Skin
The lack of growth hormone affects the person’s skin, most often on the face and forearms. Thin, dry skin is susceptible to damage, so people with GHD have to take care of it during most activities.
The Treatments for GHD
The primary treatment for GHD is to use human growth hormone, or HGH, to supplement the body’s natural production and to restore some semblance of balance to the person’s endocrine system. In nearly every case, the person must take a daily injection of HGH. Often, this treatment regimen lasts for years. Rarely, it must be lifelong. Young children will need someone to administer the shots in much the same way as you would do with Type-I diabetes.
In addition to the daily injections, people taking human growth hormone must visit their primary-care physicians to determine the efficacy of the treatment. That includes regulating the dosage and/or adding other medications to the treatment plan to supplement the effects of the human growth hormone. Also, there are several HGH brands; the physician will determine which best works for the person. It could be that the treatment would require changing from one substance to another for better results. Also, someone can react badly to or be allergic to one or more HGHs. That’s a good reason that more than one hormone is available for treatment.
Side Effects of Human Growth Hormone Treatment
Fortunately, the common side effects of human growth hormone treatment are comparatively mild. The most common are headaches and muscle pain, both of which can normally be combatted with over-the-counter pain medications as long as they’re not contraindicated by any other medications the person may have to take. Foot swelling is less common, and it’s usually not as painful as the muscle aches. One of the moderate side effects is the exacerbation of spinal curvature in people who have scoliosis in conjunction with the GHD.
Serious side effects of human growth hormone are, thankfully, rare. Pancreatitis is probably the most serious of them because it puts the person at an elevated cancer risk. Sometimes, the headaches the person experiences progress beyond mild to debilitating, often including vision and/or hearing problems. Additionally, hip dysplasia can occur.
Benefits of HGH Treatment
People with HGH could grow only 1 or 2 inches per year, with 1 inch being much more common than 2 inches. With HGH treatment, that can increase to 4 inches during the first year of treatment, 3 inches in the year thereafter, and a gradually diminishing growth rate over the next few years. Although these results are significant, it’s usual for someone with GHD not to reach the mean height of the applicable gender. However, the person will be much closer to the mean height than if there were to have been no treatment with HGH.
Conclusion
HGH therapy is an integral part of treating both congenital and adult-onset GHD. Depending on the person, the results could vary, but in most cases, they will be satisfactory. Your doctor can advise you on all parts of the treatment, so be sure to discuss everything and ask as many questions as possible when having those discussions.
Ross, an exam specialist with a passion for education, writes comprehensive articles on exam results and admit cards. His expertise ensures students receive reliable information and useful tips to excel in their exams.
