Should Short Kids Get Growth Hormone Shots?
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Comment| Wednesday, January 24th, 2007 | Emily Halevy | CWK Producer |
“It was not an easy decision for Tyler to make, but it was very clear that he could benefit from it. And for me it was not so much a cosmetic decision, but it was something that his body needed to grow.”
– Tina Smith, Tyler’s Mother
There are many reasons why some people are short - genetics, nutrition, thyroid disease, chronic illness. Sometimes there’s no explanation at all, which leads to the question: if a child is exceptionally short, should that be considered a medically treatable illness?
15-year-old Tyler Smith knows how it feels to be short.
“I used to get made fun of, which didn’t feel good of course,” he says. “It really wasn’t right, but unfortunately that’s the way it was.”
But he doesn’t get made fun of, anymore.
Tyler was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency - and for over five years he has been taking H-G-H, or human growth hormones, almost every day.
His mom says that, at first, it was a challenge: “He started shots for growth hormone when he was 11 and it was horrible. He was the child in the pediatrician’s office that would take two and three nurses to hold him down.”
And there can be side effects. Most commonly, joint pain and swelling, scoliosis (or curved spine) and headaches.
“With sometimes headaches becoming so severe that one has to stop or reduce the dosage of growth hormone,” explains John Parks, professor of pediatrics at Emory University.
The regimen of daily shots can cost over $100,000 – and the expected gain, he says, is only three inches. That’s about $40,000 per inch.
So, Parks says, “you get into the question, what is the benefit for the buck?”
Tyler would have been about 5’7” without the hormones. Now he’s expected to be 5’10”.
And, he says, those few inches are priceless:
“The comments stopped coming up and I felt more secure standing around and being myself as a taller person - and no one was saying anything. And I can say that girls were looking more, and that’s what I guess it’s all about.”
Tips for Parents
- There are many factors to consider before getting your child growth hormones. One is the possibility that slow growth is related to chronic illness - involving the lungs, kidneys, bowels or other organs. (John Parks, Ph.D., professor of pediatrics)
- Another guideline to consider is the child’s height in relation to other kids their age. A height below the first percentile is cause for concern. (John Parks, Ph.D., professor of pediatrics)
- Another is a child’s height in relation to their parents. Were the parents late bloomers; are they considerably shorter? (John Parks, Ph.D., professor of pediatrics)
- Pace of growth is also a factor. If your child crosses more than two percentile lines - for example, going from the 50th to the 10th percentile - they may be eligible for growth hormones.
References
- Emory University
- Human Growth Foundation
