Short Stature: Treatment, Procedure, Cost and Side Effects

The short stature syndrome is a condition where the height of an individual in significantly lower than the average height of that respective age, sex, racial group or the family. This is a form of growth failure which results in short stature syndrome. The specific cause of this syndrome depends on various conditions. You can have this syndrome if you face malnutrition. Poor weight gain is one of the common reasons why you can develop this syndrome. Some genetic problems are also associated with this condition. This syndrome is also known to be hereditary as the genes in your body fail to function with the growth hormones in your body. This syndrome commonly displays you to have abnormal body structure and a severe stunted growth. The skeletal structure might be abnormal as well and you might face difficulties in performing your day to day activities. Other symptoms of this condition are that you can have a delayed puberty and also experience abnormal weight loss. However, children who have this syndrome do not develop any specific diseases. These children continue to grow for a long period of time but the rate at which they grow are very slow. This condition is rare and occurs mainly due to hormonal disorders.

The treatment procedure first involves conducting various tests where the cause of the syndrome is recognized. It might be due to hormonal disorders or maybe due to malnutrition as well. An X Ray is conducted to confirm any defects regarding the anatomical structure of your body. Mostly an insulin tolerance test is conducted to check whether you have a deficiency in your growth hormone or not. Other forms of tests are thyroid stimulating tests, blood count tests, metabolic tests and many inflammatory tests which help to decide the course of treatment for this syndrome. After these tests hormone injections are mostly injected in the patient’s blood stream as these injections help to elevate the growth hormone levels and in return elevate your stunted growth. Pituitary hormone deficiencies are also a major reason for this syndrome and the medical expert might also use respective hormonal injections to cure the same. In severe cases of this condition nothing can be done to cure this condition and the affected individuals have a shorter life span compared to others. Hormonal injections are proven to be effective but the results mainly depend on the response of the individuals and their immune system as well. This condition is somewhat hereditary as well and if the parents are diagnosed with this condition then the chances are that their children will have this condition of short stature too.

You should seek medical attention if you notice that your child has a significantly shorter height than most of the other individuals of his/her age group. You are also eligible for the treatment if you notice that the growth rate is stunted, you have late puberty and sometimes abnormal anatomical structures.

Sometimes the growth is stunted only due to malnutrition and genetical factors. You might grow at a later stage but it will just take longer than the average growth rate of others. If that is the case then you are not eligible for the hormonal treatments for this condition.

The treatment procedure does not always work for everyone and has various complications along with it. The treatment might cause you to have pain in joints, various infections, improper bone formation, possibility of arthritis, bowed legs and various limb problems.

You should continue with the injections that you are prescribed with and apply them at regular intervals and whenever it is necessary. You should also have a nutritious diet to edge out the problem of malnutrition that you face. You should also continue with various physiotherapies so that the bowed legs and abnormal bone structures are corrected at a maximum level.

This syndrome cannot be completely eliminated and this lasts for the rest of your life. This syndrome might show a few signs of development but mostly it impairs your life expectancy with various complications.

The hormonal injections and the medications that are prescribed range from Rs. 3,500 to Rs. 15,000. The therapies that you might require also range from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 30,000.

The results of the treatment show a little improvement but it also comes along with various complications that adversely affect you. This syndrome cannot be cured completely.