Experts remind: children grow short, do not rush to supplement growth hormone. How does the child stature short do? The problem of children's height has always been a great concern for parents. Now many times doctors will remind parents that if their children are not tall, they can take growth hormone. But before taking growth hormone, they must make several preparations. The first is to check the bone age and whether children are the main sign of short stature.
How to judge a child's figure
Short stature refers to the height is lower than the same race, the same sex, the average height of normal children of the same age about two standards. Generally speaking, children grow fastest in the first year after birth, and their height can grow by 25 cm. From 2 years old to pre puberty (girls about 11 years old, boys about 13 years old) is a period of stable growth, annual height can grow 5 to 7 cm. After puberty, the height of boys can increase by 25 to 28 cm, and that of girls can increase by 23 to 25 cm.
Every summer vacation, every hospital endocrinology department, crowded want to increase the children. In the eyes of many parents and even doctors in some primary hospitals, 'growth hormone' is a panacea. As long as you supplement your child's height, there is nothing to say. Pei Jianhao, chief physician of Endocrinology Department of Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, told Yangcheng Evening News recently that children with short stature should not simply supplement growth hormone, but should exclude other endocrine diseases, such as hypothyroidism, and check whether the epiphysis is closed.
Children are short and anemic
Xiaoling (not her real name) is 8 years old. She is only 1.14 meters tall, much shorter than her peers. She had anemia for a long time, her family had not improved her iron and zinc supplements, and her appetite was very bad. Family members always think that her short stature is caused by anemia and poor appetite, and always try to find ways in these two aspects.
Last summer vacation, her family took her to Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital for medical treatment. After checking her thyroid function, she did have hypothyroidism (hereinafter referred to as hypothyroidism), which is the cause of her short stature and anemia. Moreover, due to hypothyroidism, her pituitary gland proliferated and formed a 1.7 cm tumor. The hospital treated her with oral thyroid hormone euthyrox. Six months later, the tumor in her brain miraculously disappeared. In the past six months, her height has grown by 10 cm, which gives her family a big relief.
Pei Jianhao reminded that Xiaoling's situation is not rare. If her child is shorter than her peers and has anemia for a long time, she should have a thyroid function test. If her child is given thyroid hormone supplement treatment before the age of 13 or 14, she may reach normal height!
Check bone age before growth hormone supplement
Xiaofei is 14 years old, only 1.5 meters. He is a head shorter than other children of the same age. He dreams of becoming a soldier or a PE teacher because he loves martial arts. His short stature has become an obstacle in his career choice. Last summer vacation, he saw a website selling heightening drugs on the Internet, which is said to contain growth hormone and promise to increase by 8 to 20 cm. He lobbied his mother to spend tens of thousands of yuan on the drug, but after eating it, Xiao Fei's height remained unchanged.
The family took him to the hospital for a growth hormone test. After the bone age test, they found that Xiaofei's epiphysis had closed. The doctor said that Xiaofei could not grow any higher, so the 10000 yuan was wasted.
Director Pei Jianhao explained that children with short stature must have bone age and endocrine examination before supplementing growth hormone. If the epiphysis is closed, it means that there is little room for him or her to grow tall. At this time, if you still supplement growth hormone, not only no effect, even acromegaly and other side effects will appear.
He suggested that the supplement of growth hormone is very professional and can only be treated after being evaluated by a pediatric endocrinologist. Girls should be treated before the age of 11 and boys before the age of 13. Of course, the earlier you find out, the better the treatment effect.
Detection methods of bone age
The traditional bone age assessment is usually to take X-rays of the hand and wrist of the subjects, and then the doctor interprets them according to the X-rays. The methods of interpretation include simple counting method, Atlas method, scoring method and computer bone age scoring system. Bone age assessment can accurately reflect the level of individual growth and maturity. It can not only determine the biological age of children, but also early understand the growth potential and sexual maturity trend of children through bone age. Bone age can also be used to predict the adult height of children. The determination of bone age is also very helpful for the diagnosis of some pediatric endocrine diseases.
After reading the above content, we should have some understanding of the problem of short children not to be in a hurry to supplement growth hormone. Today we will introduce here, and more topics about children's health will continue to be introduced in the following articles. Welcome to check.