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The recognition and treatment of growth disorders - a 50-year retrospective

Babette Zemel1

  • 1Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Department of Pediatrics, The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. zemel@email.chop.edu

Annals of Human Biology
|July 14, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Despite advances in growth disorder treatment, growth failure persists in children with complex conditions. Human biologists are crucial for understanding growth patterns and improving care for conditions like cystic fibrosis and sickle-cell anemia.

Area of Science:

  • Human biology
  • Pediatric endocrinology
  • Growth and development

Background:

  • Significant progress in understanding and treating classic growth disorders over 50 years.
  • Key advances include recognizing hormone receptor defects, developing recombinant growth hormone, and understanding epigenetic influences on growth.
  • Growth failure remains a critical issue for children with complex health conditions, including cancer survivors, premature infants, transplant recipients, and those with cystic fibrosis.

Discussion:

  • Poor growth in these populations can have lasting effects into adulthood due to increased life expectancy.
  • Human biologists play a vital role in defining normal growth patterns, body composition, and the interplay of growth with maturation.
  • Understanding environmental, behavioral, and genetic factors influencing growth is essential for effective intervention.

Key Insights:

  • Growth failure is linked to survival and malnutrition in genetic disorders like cystic fibrosis and sickle-cell anemia.
  • Studying bone mineral accretion in children with cystic fibrosis highlights the importance of normative growth data for managing chronic diseases.
  • Normal growth patterns in healthy children are critical benchmarks for diagnosing and managing growth disorders in chronically ill children.

Outlook:

  • Continued research by human biologists is essential for advancing the recognition and treatment of growth disorders.
  • Integrating knowledge of growth patterns into the care of children with chronic diseases can improve long-term outcomes.
  • Further investigation into the complex interplay of factors affecting growth is needed to address persistent challenges in pediatric health.

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