Growth hormone is a naturally occurring chemical that is manufactured in one part of the brain. The major functions of growth hormone are to increase cell growth and assist with reproductive behavior- especially while growing. Growth hormone is very important for the development of muscle and bone mass for all children during early childhood and up to puberty.
In the majority of children, growth occurs normally in the presence of growth hormone. However, there are some cases when growth hormone secretion may be too much or too little.
When the growth hormone secretion is too little, most children do not have the growth spurt and grow as midgets. There are many reasons why the hormone fails to be secreted. Sometimes the brain fails to make the growth hormone, other times there is brain injury at birth and sometimes there are genetic causes.
When the growth hormone fails to be secreted, most individuals develop certain features such as:
- reduced muscle mass
- short stature
- decreased strength
- diminished mental energy and thinking
- decreased concentration
- decreased physical stamina, lack of energy
- loss of memory
- depression
- lack of hair development on the body
- absence of secondary sexual features (decreased size of genitalia)
When a child or adult presents with the above features to his physician, the diagnosis of growth hormone is immediately suspected. The doctor can order tests to measure the levels of growth hormone along with tests to determine if growth hormone can be released when stimulated.
In many cases, the growth hormone release is small and the deficiency is mild. Thus, many children do not show all the features of complete growth hormone deficiency. In such cases the diagnosis is often missed and attributed to poor nutrition, lack of physical activity or simply attribute to bad genes.
Once the diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency is made, the physician will usually start the child on a course of treatment with growth hormone. Because the growth hormone is a peptide (a small protein) it can’t be ingested by the mouth because it will be broken down in the stomach. All growth hormone products have to be injected. Once injected, the growth hormone does not work right away and the full therapeutic results take at least 1-4 years to become visible.
Growth hormone treatments are not cheap. For those individuals who have a medical diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency, medical insurance or Medicare may cover the cost of treatment. The growth hormone injections can cost anywhere from $ 10-30,000 per year. Adults usually require much less growth hormone.