Human Growth Hormone: Deficiency Causes Short Stature, Excess Causes Acromegaly, Gigantism
Hormones are your body’s key regulators. Produced and secreted by your pituitary gland, human growth hormone is one of these regulators.
Growth hormone stimulates height, body fat distribution, muscle and bone development in children. For adults, it has an affect on energy level, muscle strength and bone health. Consequently, a deficiency or excess of human growth hormone causes some health issues.
Human growth hormone deficiency causes a short stature, with normal body proportions. Symptoms of growth hormone deficiency include:
- headaches
- excessive thirst
- increased urination
- slow, no height increase
- short stature ~ adult under 5 feet
- absent, delayed adolescent sexual development
Human growth hormone deficiency that continues into adulthood will likely cause:
- osteoporosis
- weak muscles
- increased abdominal fat
- decreased exercise capacity
- high “bad” cholesterol levels
An excess of growth hormone in children causes gigantism. Too much growth hormone in adults causes acromegaly, often diagnosed around middle age.
When an excess of growth hormone is running around in your body tissues, it causes gradual enlargement. Therefore, symptoms of gigantism and acromegaly is enlarged:
- jaw
- feet
- hands
- skin glands
- facial bones
- sinus, vocal cords
- lips, nose, tongue
Swelling of your hands and feet is often an early sign in adulthood. Other symptoms for acromegaly or gigantism involve:
- fatigue
- skin tags
- weakness
- body odor
- headaches
- joint aches
- hoarseness
- sleep apnea
- deeper voice
- skin thickening
- decreased libido
- excessive height
- wide spaced teeth
- vision impairment
- excessive sweating
- thick, coarse, oily skin
- limited joint movement
- menstrual cycle change
- unintentional weight gain
- excess female hair growth
- breast discharge ~ women
- erectile dysfunction ~ men
- bone swelling around joints
An onset of excessive growth hormone may go unnoticed for a bit too long, which may cause other health consequences, such as:
- arthritis
- sleep apnea
- colon polyps
- type 2 diabetes
- uterine fibroids
- hypopituitarism
- glucose intolerance
- high blood pressure
- vision abnormalities
- cardiovascular disease
- carpal tunnel syndrome
- spinal cord compression
Acromegaly and gigatism are rare. And the common cause for excessive amounts of growth hormone to be released is usually a pituitary gland tumor. Surgical removal or radiation of this tumor usually corrects the root cause for your growth hormone excess.
Human growth hormone deficiency is a more common condition than the alternative excess. It is often corrected by taking synthetic growth hormones.
It is imperative to identify growth hormone abnormalities early for healthy outcomes. For instances, the bone growth enlargement of gigantism and acromegaly are permanent. And growth hormone deficiency causing short stature measures you short all your life.
Injecting human growth hormone only to live longer is neither scientifically proven nor FDA approved. See an endocrinologist if you suspect your body is deficient in human growth hormone.
Otherwise, health maintenance is your ticket to a long life via:
- nutritious diet
- adequate sleep
- regular exercise
- stress management
- limiting blood sugar level fluctuations
And not an excess of HGH with all its acromegaly type side effects.
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