Growth hormone (GH) regulates body and brain development, bone growth and maturity, and metabolism. It’s also essential for healthy muscles. If the pituitary gland doesn’t produce enough growth hormone (GH), this can affect growth and development in children as well as causing a number of health problems in adults including: decreased muscle mass, increased body fat, high cholesterol, osteoporosis (brittle bones), psychological problems and poor quality of life.
Our Endocrinologists, based in Dubai, can diagnose a wide range of growth disorders and offer expert growth disorder treatments including:
- Growth hormone deficiency is when the pituitary gland doesn’t produce enough growth hormone, slowing down or stopping a child’s growth from the age of two or three years onwards. It’s often diagnosed during routine health checks, and can also be a symptom of genetic disease including Turner syndrome and Prader-Willi syndrome. It can be treated by regular injections of growth hormone
- Gigantism is a rare, serious condition, often caused by a benign tumour in the pituitary gland, which causes excessive growth hormone to be released in children, causing faster growth and increased height. It’s usually treated as early as possible with surgery to remove or reduce the size of the tumour, along with radiation therapy and, in some cases, medication
- Hypogonadism, where there is too little sex hormone produced by the body, can affect the testes in males and the ovaries in females, leading to delayed puberty
- Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), a group of inherited disorders caused by lower levels of ACTH being released by the pituitary gland than normal. This causes the adrenal gland to produce insufficient levels of a hormone called cortisol, leading to an increase in the level of male hormones in both sexes, affecting the reproductive system
If you would like to know more about the growth and hormone treatments we provide please contact us and make an appointment with one of our endocrinologists to discuss the best first steps.
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