5-year-old children are 10 cm shorter "ditheraphritis" is the culprit

It is often heard that adults have "hypothyroidism" (hypothyroidism), but few people pay attention to children who also have "hypothyroidism". Children suffer from "hypothyroidism", the growth rate is often significantly behind that of their peers, and some parents will also treat it as anemia or short stature. If "hypothyroidism" is not treated in time and the optimal treatment period is missed, it will have an irreversible negative impact on growth and development and body metabolism.

■ Southeast Morning Post reporter Xu Yimei

Lin Weihua, deputy chief physician of the Department of Child Health Care of Quanzhou Children's Hospital, is supervised

Children who are much shorter than their peers turned out to be "hypothyroidism" at work

"When I was a child, I didn't care too much about crying less and moving less, but I didn't expect that he didn't grow tall because he had 'hypothyroidism.'" After 5-year-old Xiaobin (pseudonym) was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, his mom said sadly.

The family has always felt that Xiao Bin looks healthy and cute, that is, the height is not ideal, thinking about it, the child's development is fast and slow, maybe supplementing the child with nutrition will have an effect, but the effect is very small. After Xiao Bin went to kindergarten, seeing that he was much different in height than children of the same age, Xiao Bin's parents were even more worried. Xiao Bin has had constipation symptoms for a long time, is it the cause of bad stomach and indigestion?

The family took Xiao Bin to the child health department for examination and found that the child was suffering from "hypothyroidism". The height of 5-year-old Xiaobin is 100.2 centimeters, while the normal standard is 113.5 centimeters, a difference of more than ten centimeters, and less than 105.4 centimeters can be diagnosed as short stature.

During the examination, it was found that Xiao Bin's intelligence level was in the critical range, and a pericardial effusion was also detected. Normally, the pericardial cavity contains a small amount of slurry that acts as a lubricator. Once the pathological condition leads to an increase in intraluminal fluid, it becomes a pericardial effusion. If the pericardial effusion occurs too much too quickly and is not treated in time, cardiac function may be severely impaired. Long-term constipation is also caused by metabolic abnormalities due to "hypothyroidism".

At present, Xiao Bin needs to take long-term medication to supplement thyroid hormones to improve his condition, while his heart has returned to normal and his height continues to grow.

Children with thyroid disease are prone to growth and development lag

Lin Weihua introduced that the thyroid gland is a small butterfly-shaped organ located in front of the trachea, and its main function is to synthesize thyroxine. If a child's thyroid function is impaired, it produces less thyroid hormone, leading to "hypothyroidism," slow energy consumption, and slower metabolic rates. If the thyroid gland releases too much thyroid hormone into the bloodstream, it can cause "hyperthyroidism" and accelerate the body's metabolic processes. Hypothyroidism is more common than hyperthyroidism in children. If a child has thyroid disease, his or her physical and intellectual development will be affected.

"Congenital hypothyroidism (CH), commonly known as hypothyroidism, is one of the most common endocrine disorders in pediatrics." Lin Weihua said that the untreated children of CH often have low intelligence and short stature, and their faces are manifested as: large head, short neck, pale yellow complexion, puffy eyelids, wide eye distance, low nose bridge, wide tongue, and often outstretched mouth. The onset of "hypothyroidism" the day after tomorrow may be caused by too little iodine in the diet (endemic goiter), autoimmune diseases, thyroid damage, etc. School-age children may have learning disabilities and delayed puberty.

Studies have shown that hypothyroidism is an important cause of short stature in children, and if left untreated, the difference in height from that of children of the same age will become increasingly large, and children aged 5 years may only be the height of normal children aged 2-3 years. If treatment is standardized early, the child's growth and development will be the same as that of normal children. If not treated in time, the lost height of the child is often difficult to fully recover, and the intellectual damage is irreversible. Dr. Lin reminded that newborn disease screening is not a confirmatory examination, and children with negative screening should also have regular physical examinations after birth, and if they find that children have symptoms that are not high, they should go to regular hospitals in time to check thyroid function and check the cause.