what is ghd disease?

What is growth hormone deficiency? As the name implies, growth hormone deficiency results when the pituitary gland doesn't produce enough growth hormone to stimulate the body to grow. This can result in noticeably short stature in children.

Since growth takes place over many years and since children grow at different rates, symptoms of growth hormone deficiency may be hard to identify. In addition to noticeably slow growth with normal body proportions, signs may include:

Growth hormone deficiency has no effect on a child’s intelligence.

These symptoms may resemble other conditions, so be sure to always consult your child's physician for a diagnosis.

Growth rates vary considerably from child to child. But measured in height, average "normal" growth is often described as:

If your child is less than the third percentile in height for a child of his age, that can be a red flag for growth hormone deficiency.

Damage to the pituitary gland or hypothalamus may be the result of an abnormal formation that occurred before your child was born (congenital) or something that occurred during or after birth (acquired).

Congenital growth hormone deficiency can occur if there are mutations in genes for factors that are important in pituitary gland development, or in receptors and factors (including growth hormone) along the growth hormone pathway; to date, however, the cause of most of these cases is unknown.

Acquired causes of growth hormone deficiency include:

It's also important to remember that growth hormone deficiency is only one of many conditions that may affect your child’s growth. Your child’s short stature may be caused by other syndromes, and growth failure may be due to decreased nutritional intake, gastrointestinal disorders, diseases that have increased metabolic demand, or hypothyroidism.

Some research suggests that there are additional complications from growth hormone deficiency, including:

You and your family are key players in your child’s medical care. It’s important that you share your observations and ideas with your child’s health care provider and that you understand your provider’s recommendations.

If your child is experiencing symptoms of growth hormone deficiency and you’ve set up an appointment, you probably already have some ideas and questions on your mind. But at the appointment, it can be easy to forget the questions you wanted to ask. It’s often helpful to jot them down ahead of time so that you can leave the appointment feeling like you have the information you need.

If your child is old enough, you may want to suggest that she write down what she wants to ask her health care provider, too.

Some of the questions you may want to ask include:

We view the diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency as an important first step to treatment — and, ultimately, to your child’s long-term health and continued growth. You can rest assured knowing your child is in capable hands.

Our compassionate staff includes physician specialists who are experienced in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of growth hormone deficiency. And we are uniquely qualified to determine the best course of care for your child. Our child-centric approach ensures that we care for your child as a child, not just another patient.

Because the chain of events involved in growth hormone deficiency is so complex, our researchers are investigating the different events that can cause a child to have short stature. Not all of these individual defects are well understood or easy to detect with a test, making this research vital to treatment strategies.

Diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in children most often occurs during two age ranges. The first is around 5 years of age when children begin school. This is because parents can more easily see how their child’s height compares to the height of their classmates. The second age range is around 10 to 13 years old in children assigned female at birth and 12 to 16 years in children assigned male at birth, which are the age ranges when puberty typically starts. A delay in puberty can signal suspicion of GHD.

Growth increments are the most important criteria in the diagnosis of GHD in children. Normal levels of growth usually follow a pattern, and if growth during a recorded six- to twelve-month period is within those ranges, it’s unlikely that they have a growth condition.

Adult-onset growth hormone deficiency is often difficult to detect because the symptoms are subtle and commonplace. This makes it more difficult to diagnose.

Healthcare providers use different tests to diagnose growth hormone deficiency (GHD) depending on if you’re a child or adult.

Your child’s healthcare provider will review their medical history and growth charts to look for signs of impaired growth, risk factors for growth hormone deficiency and other conditions that can affect growth.

Other health conditions that can affect and prevent growth include:

Since growth hormone levels in your blood normally vary greatly throughout the day, a simple blood test can’t determine a GH deficiency. Because of this, your child’s provider may order the following tests to help diagnose GHD and/or to rule out other conditions that affect growth:

One of the most common tests for diagnosing growth hormone deficiency in adults is the insulin tolerance test. Insulin is a natural hormone your pancreas makes.

During this test, your provider will give you an injection of synthetic insulin to lower your blood sugar level. They will then take blood samples and send them to a lab for testing in order to measure the amount of growth hormone in your blood.

• Reduced sense of wellbeing.
• Anxiety and/or depression.
• Decreased energy levels.
• Increased body fat, especially around your belly.
• Decreased muscle tone.
• Decreased bone density, which leads to osteoporosis.
• Insulin resistance, which can lead to Type 2 diabetes.

Growth hormone deficiency (GHD), also known as dwarfism or pituitary dwarfism, is a condition caused by insufficient amounts of growth hormone in the body. Children with GHD have abnormally short stature with normal body proportions. GHD can be present at birth (congenital) or develop later (acquired). The condition occurs if the pituitary gland makes too little growth hormone. It can be also the result of genetic defects, severe brain injury or being born without a pituitary gland. In some cases, there is no clear cause identified. Sometimes, GHD can be associated with lower levels of other hormones, such as vasopressin (which controls water production in the body), gonadotropins (which controls the production of male and female sex hormones), thyrotropins (which control the production of thyroid hormones) or adrenocorticotrophic hormone (which controls the adrenal gland and related hormones).

Symptoms of other pituitary hormone deficiencies that may co-exist with growth hormone deficiency:

A physical exam and measurement of height, weight, arms and leg lengths are the first steps to diagnosis, in addition to thorough medical history. Blood tests to measure the levels of growth hormone in the body as well as the levels of other hormones. Imaging tests including X-rays and MRI of the head may be helpful in narrowing down the underlying disorder causing GHD by revealing abnormalities of the hypothalamus or the pituitary glands.