Should Short KidsTake Growth Hormones?

There Is Controversy Over Whether Hormones Stigmatize Smallness

(CBS)  Many people wish they could be taller. Spencer Davies is one of them.

"They just called me names like 'shrimp' and stuff, constantly, and they followed me all around," Spencer, 11, told Saturday Early Show co-anchor Tracy Smith. "It was really disturbing. I just wanted to run away."

Spencer has a modest goal when it comes to his height. All he wants is to be taller than his father, who is 5'2"

"He fell off the charts and was all of a sudden three inches, four inches shorter than I was at his age," said Bret Davies, Spencer's father.

Spencer's height was barely creeping higher.

"You have other people saying, 'oh he's so cute. Is he 2? He speaks really well,'" his mother Laurie said. "He was like 5 1/2, and they thought he was 2."

Between the ages of 2 and 4, Spencer was not able to keep up with the normal growth rate.

After two years of tracking Spencer's height, his pediatric endocrinologist, Dr. David Allen made a suggestion. He recommended Spencer take human growth hormone in the hopes of accelerating his growth. It takes years of daily injections, which Spencer seems to have gotten used to, and in the end there are no guarantees.

"Most of the time, people have excessive expectations for growth, for what growth hormone is going to do," Allen said. "They think it can make a short child tall and that doesn't happen."

He said the best a patient can hope for is growing up to three inches.

When thinking about height, it helps to look at the bell curve. At one end you have very, very tall, people like 7'6" NBA star Yao Ming. At the other end of the curve are the very short, like former labor secretary Robert Reich who stands about 4'10". Most of the rest of us fall somewhere in between. In 2003, the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of human growth hormone to treat children projected to fall below the first percentile of that bell curve.

Ellen Frankel is 4'10" and is the author of the book "Beyond Measure." She says we ought to be trying to change people's minds instead of their bodies.

"Do we treat a social prejudice with a social solution, or are we going to treat it with a medical solution?" she asked.

Frankel says the medical solution, which adds only a couple of inches, isn't really a solution at all.

"We just need to step back a minute and think what is it that can be done differently if we're two inches taller?" she said.

The Davies say it's not necessarily what Spencer can do, but how he feels about himself. His growth rate has doubled, and while doctors can't predict whether he'll be taller than his dad he's caught up to some of his peers.

As far as the name-calling and teasing?

"That stopped a long time ago," Spencer said.

[cjhr43]

I personally do not believe in messing around with nature. I have one grandchild in his category and was relieved when his parents chose not to put him through this. His brother and cousins inherited the tall gene which makes it even more difficult for him. Nature compensates and his intelligence is way above the norm along with superior artistic talent.

[butterfly0546]

My oldest grandson is taking the hrt..he has been using it since 2001,the reason why is because he had no growth hormornes..plus he also has a congental heart problem..My daughter and i are really pleased that it has help my grandson to grow as his heart will grow also...E.S.

[lodor-2009]

Having had a son who was always the smallest in school all the way through high school, I can sympathize with a parent trying to help their child. No doctor or any one else ever suggested that my son take growth hormones as an alternative to mother nature. Luckily, as a 27 year old he is now 5'7" and I am glad to say is much more in tune with the differences between people and respects those differences. Learning that being different may be an asset may be more important for later life than being like everyone else.

[extremophil]

We are always telling kids to "grow up", so maybe this is the answer.

[acbfsu]

at 5'2 I am not the tallest person out there, but I am completely confident and comfortable. After years of my mother worring about my size, and many many tests, Doctors found that I was not producing enough growth hormone and my bones were not growing (I was the size of a 2 year old at 5) I took growth hormone everyday for 10 years and was not projected to reach 5 foot. Now after 10 years of stopping the medication, I am so thankful that my parents choose to put me on growth hormone. Although it was expensive and I fought with them on so many occasions to let me stop the shots, I am happy for the gift they gave me.

[glidescube]

NOW only if they came up with something to make you longer instead of taller--not that I would need anything like that mind you...

[livad1]

Anyone who has a problem using growth hormone to achieve a normal adult height obviously hasn't had to live life at 5ft tall. I've never been able to find pants that fit. I can't eat as much as someone of average height. 5 pounds on my frame looks like 10 on everyone else. Airbags can be fatal to someone like me. Not to mention the injuries I've suffered having to climb on counter tops to reach cupboards, falling off step stools, straining my arms to reach pull cords, and having to wear heals just to reach the counter at work - and so my pants won't drag on the ground.
I'm not saying all short people wish they were as tall as runway models, but the world just isn't set up to accomodate us. What's the harm in making life a bit easier by using growth hormone? Hey, if you haven't walked a mile with short legs in high heels and your pant seams dragging on the ground you've got no room to talk.

[Emme94]

My two sons are 16 months and 18 inches apart. The oldest seems to have peaked at 6 ft while the younger hasn't made 5 ft yet. The youngest one is constantly given the children's menu with crayons when we go out to eat. His weight is also below average. He is ridiculed at school and has trouble playing the sports he likes because of his short stature. He started the HGH almost 6 months ago. Just the people that have complimented him on his new boost in height has helped his self-image. And yes, he went through all kinds of testing before he started to make sure that it wasn't a wasted effort.

This is nothing like athletes taking illegal steroids. This is a medically supervised treatment. There isn't experimenting with amounts just to see if this month's growth can be beaten if the dosage is increased just a bit.

Yes, it would be great just be able to "change people's perceptions" about the differences in others. But if it was that easy, we wouldn't have hate crimes, genocide, terrorism, or religious wars.

[anopinion1]

sure why not i mean their are drugs out their for adult males to make a certain appendage of their larger.... you see the infomercials for extends all the freakin time on comedy central late at night neway...
you may as well put him on those drugs to so when he gets older their will be no chance for the women to laugh at his shorcomings. You should look out for every possible thing he may have to go thru. need i say more???

[rhs648]

Some bald men are comfortable with there baldness while others aren't. Fortunately, there are things that can be done to help those who want more hair. The same is true for short people. A major difference is that growth hormones probably have to be taken during childhood. As a parent, I would want to give my child every advantage possible. Many parents send their children to college, get braces for their teeth, etc. IF a child is deficient in his/her growth hormones, it only makes sense to give them growth hormones. Presumably, this is done under a doctor's supervision after extensive testing.

[harp1963]

Why don't we teach children to be happy with who they are instead of making them feel they would be happy if their current "flawed being" would be better if they became a different person. In the context of the "love of money" America, I can see the benefit of making kids feel pills and becoming different than they are would benefit the super wealthy "board of director" members of the huge pharmaceutical companies. Medicating children with "happy pills" or steroids in anything other than very extreme cases is immoral and wrong.