Patient's question:

Thank you for taking the time to answer the question. Am I, as I often say, suffering from dwarfism?

Doctor's answer:

Hello, dwarfs refer to short people, and dwarfism generally refers to a condition where adult height is less than 1.3 meters. Pituitary dwarfism is a condition caused by insufficient secretion of growth hormone by the pituitary gland or insensitivity of surrounding tissues, especially the skeletal system, to this hormone. It can be a single deficiency of growth hormone, or it can be accompanied by a deficiency of other pituitary trophic hormones, such as gonadotropin, thyroid-stimulating hormone, and adrenocorticotropic hormone. However, it is more common to have growth hormone accompanied by a deficiency of intestinal trophic hormone. The characteristics of the patients are that as they age, their height and weight fall behind those of children of the same age group, they have underdeveloped muscles, a childlike face, early wrinkles on the skin, resembling "little old people," well-proportioned bodies, good intellectual development, no secondary sexual characteristics after adulthood, no breast development or menstruation in women, no beard or Adam's apple in men, small testicles, even cryptorchidism, underdeveloped penis and prostate gland resembling a child, no pubic hair or armpit hair. The causes of pituitary dwarfism can be head trauma, surgery, brain inflammation, tumors, and schistosomiasis, or the cause may be unknown. Diagnosis, in addition to directly measuring the concentration of growth hormone in the plasma, can include taking hand and chest X-rays to determine bone age, generally with a delay of more than 4 years being diagnostically significant. Due to the limited source of human growth hormone, it is not yet widely used in treatment. Patients can use 5mg of human growth hormone per time, three times a week, or 10mg per time, twice a week, injected intramuscularly in the evening. The currently used treatment method includes a small dose of dry thyroid preparation, 30-90mg per day (thyroid function needs to be adjusted to the normal range), human chorionic gonadotropin, 500-1000 units, injected intramuscularly once or twice a week (side effects in men include testicular pain and seminal emissions), and nandrolone phenylpropionate, 6.25-12.5mg per time, once a week (1-2mg per kg per month), with a course of 3-6 months. Suspected cases should start treatment at 14 years old, while confirmed cases should start at 8-12 years old. Premature or excessive dosage can hinder bone growth, causing "horizontal obesity" (side effects: female voice deepening, appearance of an Adam's apple, and clitoral enlargement should lead to discontinuation of medication). If the cause is a tumor, the primary disease should be treated first.