Parents have a choice today to enjoy the best of the career driven world and the luxury of family ties. Delayed parenthood is a safe option that modern medicine offers even to those who are anxiety –ridden about the ticking of their biological clocks. Whichever be the sex of the child, a healthy baby is the topmost concern of eager parents.
Sometimes, though all the norms have been followed low weight babies have been observed even in the wombs of non-smoking, non-drinking mothers. These infants fall into the bracket of being in the lowest 10% of weight of those born after the same number of weeks of pregnancy.
Though a cause for concern, babies termed small for gestational age (SGA) or showing intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) are both treatable with corrective hormones like the synthetic human growth hormone, Somatropin. A child with IUGR can be diagnosed as having insufficient growth during the early stages of the physical examination of the mother. While SGA and IUGR are seen in babies of both genders, Turner’s syndrome is specific to the girl child.
Turner’s syndrome is caused when one or a part of the x -chromosomes absence affects a girl’s height and sexual development. Girls treated between the ages of seven and puberty, after which the ends of long bones fuse and stop growing, showed promise of escaping the handicaps of a short stature caused by this syndrome. Another chromosome deficiency which unlike Turner’s syndrome is seen in both sexes is the Prader- Willi Syndrome. Caused by the abnormality of the chromosome 15, it is a genetic condition caused by the absence of genes that are passed by the father. .Children with this condition is noticed to have unusually small hands and feet, weak muscle formation and an inability to recognize satiety leading to obesity.
Other than SGA, IUGR, Turner’s syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, short bowel syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis and x –linked hypophosphatemic Rickets (XLH) are some of the other childhood ailments that have been noticed. Growth slowness found in children with short bowel syndrome has been due to either a portion of the short bowel being missing in the womb itself or because of its insufficient development causing poor retention of nutrients and consequent improper growth. Cases of rheumatoid arthritic symptoms of weak joint and muscle strength and the poor mineralization of bones of rickets also showed tendencies to appear in childhood. Chronic renal disease is yet another childhood ailment that affects the body’s growth along with painful indications. While all these syndromes benefit from a treatment of synthetic HGH for the monitored period up to puberty, for renal cases doctors tend to continue HGH for a longer period.
It is only after ruling out all probabilities of environmental, genetic and pregnancy time infections having a possible link to low weight that doctors consider human GH treatment. A period of wait and watch is also usually recommended as with time some children tend to improve in weight and size. Parents who have sought help at the earliest permissible time have been said to have successful results. Timely medication ,reversing the deficiencies of the natural growth hormone in the body is not a lifetime regimen that has to be imposed on children. HGH treatment in children can be discontinued when the child has reached the normal weight and height. With the wide- spread awareness of treatment, currently HGH can be considered a safe and time tested solution for GH deficient children.