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Growth and Nutrition Experts’s Bio | Q&A Archive
Panhypopituitarism; Pituitary dwarfism; Recombinant human GH (rhGH); Acquired growth hormone deficiency; Congenital growth hormone deficiency; Somatropin
Growth hormone deficiency refers to abnormally short height in childhood due to the lack of growth hormone.
See also: Short stature
Growth hormone is produced in the pituitary gland, which is located at the base of the brain.
Abnormally short height in childhood (called short stature) may occur if not enough growth hormone is produced.
Most of the time, no single clear cause of growth hormone deficiency is found.
Children with physical defects of the face and skull, such as cleft lip or cleft palate, are more likely to have decreased growth hormone levels.
Growth hormone deficiency is usually not passed from parent to child.
Although it is uncommon, growth hormone deficiency may also be diagnosed in adults. Possible causes include:
Parks JS, Felner EI. Hypopituitarism. In: Kliegman RM, Behrman RE, Jenson HB, Stanton BF, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 19th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier;2011:chap 551.
Reiter EO, Rosenfeld RG. Normal and aberrant growth. In: Kronenberg HM, Melmed S, Polonsky KS, Larsen PR, eds. Williams Textbook of Endocrinology. 11th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier;2008:chap 23.
Cook DM, Yuen KC, Biller BM, Kemp SF, Vance ML; American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists medical guidelines for clinical practice for growth hormone use in growth hormone-deficient adults and transition patients - 2009 update. Endocr Pract. 2009;15:1-29.
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