Can children be given growth hormone? Is it good for children to be given growth hormone?

Many parents are afraid that their babies are too short due to their own height limitations, so they want to use growth hormone to help their children grow taller. Today, let's talk about growth hormone. Growth hormone is not suitable for all short babies. Please see the detailed introduction below.

Is it good to give growth hormone to a short child?

Not all short children are suitable for growth hormone injections.

There are many reasons why children are short. Genetics, diet, exercise, and disease can all affect a child's height. It is necessary to find out the cause of a child's short stature and take appropriate measures to make the child grow normally. Growth hormone injections cannot solve all problems.

Growth hormone is suitable for

There are many causes of dwarfism, and not all of them are suitable for growth hormone injections

During the interview, Zhong Yan showed the reporter a "Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Short Stature Children" launched by the Chinese Medical Association. The guidelines define short stature as "refers to individuals of the same race, gender and age in similar environments whose height is 2 standard deviations (-2SD) below the average height of the normal population, or below the 3rd percentile (-1.88SD)". "Not everyone who is a little shorter is considered short stature. Some of the above standards are normal physiological variations. Parents can take their children to a regular hospital to monitor their growth rate and ask the doctor to judge whether they are short based on the standards. This monitoring should start from an early age and continue every year. If shortness is discovered, seek medical attention as soon as possible." Zhong Yan emphasized.

According to reports, there are hundreds of causes of short stature, among which the most common ones are growth hormone deficiency, hypothyroidism, heart disease, blood disease, chronic kidney disease, skeletal muscle system dysplasia, Down syndrome (congenital idiocy), congenital ovarian dysplasia, brain tumors, etc. There are many causes of short stature, and it is not possible to make children grow taller overnight by just injecting growth hormone. Instead, it is necessary to prescribe the right medicine and eliminate the cause. In other words, not all people with short stature are suitable for growth hormone injections.

Zhong Yan revealed that short stature caused by growth hormone deficiency, chronic renal failure, small for gestational age, congenital ovarian hypoplasia, idiopathic short stature, etc. can be treated by injecting growth hormone to help children grow taller. However, these must be diagnosed by a regular hospital before treatment can be carried out, and the course of treatment should not be shorter than 1 to 2 years. If it is too short, it will not be very effective.

Effects of Growth Hormone

Growth hormone can promote human growth and regulate the metabolism of substances in the body. Growth hormone mainly inhibits the use of glucose by muscle and adipose tissue, while promoting gluconeogenesis in the liver and the decomposition of glycogen, thereby increasing blood sugar. Growth hormone can promote fat decomposition and increase plasma free fatty acids. When hungry, insulin secretion decreases and growth hormone secretion increases, so the use of glucose in the blood decreases and fat utilization increases. At this time, the content of glucose and free fatty acids in plasma increases.

Growth hormone is mainly used to treat growth hormone deficiency, intrauterine growth retardation, and congenital chromosomal problems. If the child is not sick and the parents simply want to grow taller, it is not supported. The side effects of growth hormone are still being monitored. What is more certain is that patients with diabetes and tumors must not take it, because growth hormone will cause blood sugar to rise and the tumor will grow bigger. At the same time, injection of growth hormone will directly lead to precocious puberty in children and adolescents, and end the growth cycle early. From a long-term perspective, increasing hormones is not advisable.