The so-called "height injection" is to inject human recombinant growth hormone, growth hormone can not be used indiscriminately, can not be because the child's height is not ideal to inject the child. Random injection of such hormones not only can not make the child grow taller, but also may "bury" the child's body health hazards.
Zheng Rongxiu is the director of the Department of Pediatrics, General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University
In recent years, the "height increase needle" mainly used in medicine to treat short stature has been regarded by some parents as the "elixir of height". In the past summer, many parents took their children to the hospital for consultation and wanted to inject their children.
In this regard, Zheng Rongxiu, director of the Department of Pediatrics of the General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, said that the so-called "height injection" is to inject human recombinant growth hormone, and growth hormone cannot be used indiscriminately, and children cannot be injected because the child's height is not ideal. Random injection of such hormones not only can not make the child grow taller, but also may "bury" the child's body health hazards.
This hormone is not another hormone
"Injectable human recombinant growth hormone is a drug for the treatment of short stature in children." Zheng Rongxiu introduced that the synthetic recombinant growth hormone is produced through the secretory expression technology of recombinant E. coli, which is consistent with the growth hormone secreted by the human pituitary gland in terms of amino acid content and protein structure.
When people think of hormones, they take it for granted that it will make the body fat, osteoporosis... In this regard, Zheng Rongxiu explained that there are more than 1,000 kinds of hormones known in the human body, and the hormones that people usually call hormones generally refer to glucocorticoids, and long-term use does produce many side effects, such as obesity, osteoporosis, inhibition of children's growth, etc. This kind of hormone is not suitable for long-term use of children.
Growth hormone is a peptide hormone secreted by the anterior lobe of the human pituitary gland, which is composed of 191 amino acids, which can promote bone growth, promote anabolic and protein synthesis, promote lipolysis, and is an indispensable hormone for children's height growth.
"It can be seen that although growth hormone is also called a hormone, it is completely different from glucocorticoids in terms of source, chemical structure, or physiological and pharmacological effects, and it will not produce the above side effects." Zheng Rongxiu said.
Since growth hormone can promote growth, small side effects, and high safety, can it be given to children?
"For short children who meet the indications, human recombinant growth hormone can play a role in promoting height growth and improving adult height." Zheng Rongxiu said that its effectiveness and safety depend on the etiology of children's short stature, age at the time of treatment, bone age, genetic target height (indicating its own growth potential) and the overall level of physical health, and it is also necessary to closely monitor and continuously adjust the dose during treatment to ensure effectiveness and safety.
The heightening needle cannot be hit whenever you want
Zheng Rongxiu introduced that the pro-height effect of growth hormone is only effective in children with unclosed epiphyseals. When girls reach bone age of 14 to 15 years, boys reach bone age of 16 to 17 years, and the epiphyseal is basically closed, even injections of growth hormone do not help.
Some children's height is in the normal range, and according to the growth curve, it is predicted that the height of the child at 18 years old is about 1.7 meters, but the parents are not satisfied and still apply for injection of "height injection". There are also some parents, because their children will be engaged in basketball, modeling and other occupations with special requirements for height in the future, so they hope to let their children grow a few centimeters longer by injecting "height increase needles".
"In principle, if the epiphyseal line is not closed, the injection of growth hormone can grow taller." Zheng Rongxiu said that judging who needs to inject this type of growth hormone is a very professional problem, and it is definitely not possible to fight if you want to fight.
Children's height growth is affected by many factors, including genetic factors, environmental factors, nutritional factors and so on. In medicine, there is a strict definition of whether you are short or not, and it is not as simple as "half a head shorter than the neighbor's child". In addition, when assessing height, it is also necessary to look at the growth rate, the annual height growth of children under 3 years old is less than 7 cm, the annual height growth of children from 3 years old to prepuberty is less than 5 cm, and the annual height growth of adolescent children is less than 6 cm, which is considered to be growth retardation.
"If you suspect that your child is short or stunted, parents should first take their child to the hospital, ask a professional doctor to conduct a comprehensive assessment, fully understand the child's growth and development, growth curve, bone age and other information, and do a series of tests to determine the cause of short stature." Zheng Rongxiu said.
Bone age examination, that is, to infer whether the measured person has an underlying disease by detecting whether the bone age matches the actual age. Normally, bone age increases accordingly as we age. In patients with precocious puberty, bone age is often significantly ahead. Although their actual height is significantly higher than that of their peers by age, their height is often lagging behind when assessed by their bone age; in patients with delayed puberty or hypogonadism, their bone age often lags by several years. When the actual age is inconsistent with the bone age, the growth potential and developmental status should be judged according to the bone age.
"If, through professional examination, it is found that there are clear primary diseases, such as various systemic chronic diseases (tumors, rheumatic immune diseases, allergic diseases), thyroid hormone deficiency, adrenocortical hormone deficiency or increase, etc., these diseases should be treated first, and then the height problem should be considered." Zheng Rongxiu explained.
According to reports, the current common cases that can be treated with growth hormone in pediatrics are: idiopathic growth hormone deficiency, idiopathic short stature, Turner syndrome and so on. "Even short children who meet the indications need to be thoroughly evaluated before growth hormone can be considered." Zheng Rongxiu said that some patients may not be suitable for the use of growth hormone or the application is ineffective, and may even induce tumors after injecting the hormone.
According to the data, the current adverse reactions related to growth hormone therapy include benign cranial hypertension, affected glucose metabolism, hypothyroidism, pigmented nevi, enlarged hands and feet, local redness and swelling, rash, otitis media, etc. Some children will have a slippage of the femoral head and scoliosis after being injected with growth hormone.
According to industry experts, injecting children with growth hormone, due to different preparations, weight and sensitivity, the monthly cost is between 3,000 yuan and 15,000 yuan, often requiring injections for 2 to 5 years.
Growth and development should follow objective laws
Every parent hopes that the child can grow tall quickly, but if the child's development rules are not understood or excessively long, then the child will not only not grow tall, but also may cause precocious puberty, and eventually the epiphyseal will close prematurely, resulting in short stature.
"Parents should be aware of the normal patterns of children's height growth, such as the average length of about 50 centimeters at birth, the average growth of 25 centimeters in the first year, about 10 centimeters in the second year, about 8 to 9 centimeters in the third year, about 5 to 6 centimeters per year after the age of 3 to before puberty, about 7 to 9 centimeters per year for girls and about 8 to 10 centimeters per year for boys after puberty." Zheng Rongxiu introduced that if it is found that the child's growth is off track, or the growth rate decreases, you should first go to the pediatric endocrinology department or the growth and development specialist clinic to give the child a comprehensive examination, and then treat it after determining the cause.
In stark contrast to the height anxiety type parents, there is a group of parents who believe in "twenty-three channels and one channel". Even if they find that their children are shorter than their peers or their height is not up to standard, they do not bring their children to the doctor, and they always feel that their babies are older and "in a few years their height will catch up."
In this regard, Zheng Rongxiu said that there are indeed individual differences in the growth and development of children, but at present, because the children's nutrition is relatively sufficient, the probability of late growth is relatively low, and most children will grow to the corresponding height at the corresponding age. Especially if the child is not picky and anorexia, but the height is relatively short, then the possibility of growing taller a few years later is very small. Many parents of shorter children only bring their children to the doctor when the child's puberty has completed its development and its height has stopped growing, at which time the epiphyseal has been closed and the time for treatment has been missed.
"Although heredity is the main factor in determining height, parental height has a great influence on the child's height, but the acquired factor is also very important, reasonable nutrition, appropriate exercise, adequate sleep, and a relaxed and pleasant environment are conducive to the normal growth of children's height." Zheng Rongxiu suggested that, first of all, to ensure adequate sleep, especially in the period of vigorous growth hormone secretion (22:00 at night to 3:00 a.m. the next day), let the child be in a deep sleep state; secondly, to ensure that the dietary intake is sufficient and balanced, the daily diet should contain protein, fat, vitamins, carbohydrates, trace elements; finally, the child should keep exercising every day, at least 20 to 40 minutes each time.
Source: Science and Technology Daily
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