The pituitary gland produces growth hormones and releases them in bursts every three to five hours. The body normally regulates the amount which is produced and released. However, its possible for too much to be produced. Growth hormones are essential to promoting proper development in children, but what happens when there is too much growth hormone in a child?

Growth hormones are important influences on a childs height and development. While many children are shorter or taller than others due to genetics, some children may have a growth disorder.

Growth disorders affect the speed at which a child develops. Height, weight, and sexual development are just a few features which can be affected. Diseases or problems with the pituitary gland are the leading causes of growth disorders.

The pituitary gland is responsible for producing growth hormones. Too few can lead to poor growth in children, while too many can lead to a condition called gigantism.

Gigantism is a rare condition that usually occurs when a tumor grows on the pituitary gland, affecting the amount of growth hormones in a child. As a result, the childs body and organs grow extremely large for their age.

Excessive growth hormone symptoms are usually slow to form. Symptoms can be difficult to notice because children can develop in spurts or at different rates than their peers.

Symptoms of too much growth hormone in a child include:

Its important to treat gigantism because a child may experience delayed puberty, or their genitals may not fully develop.

Your doctor will be able to confirm whether a growth disorder is present through a combination of blood tests, CT or MRI, and study of serial photographs (photographs taken over the course of several years).

Treatment can stop or slow growth hormones from causing your child to grow larger than normal.

Stopping or slowing the production of growth hormones is not easy. Your doctor may need to use a combination of techniques to effectively treat your child.

Treating excess growth hormones in children is essential to ensuring that they live a long and healthy life.

Share this post: on Facebook on Google+

Continue reading here:
Too Much Growth Hormone in a Child: Causes and Effects ...

Comments are closed.