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Thursday, February 22, 2007
Has anyone of you noticed an adult who is abnormally short for his/her age? Now, that particular person may be suffering from this genetic disorder called dwarfism. What is dwarfism? No, I'm not talking about Snow White and the Seven dwarfs. Dwarfism is defined as a pathelogical condition in which the physical size of a person, animal, or plant is below normal. And, what causes dwarfism? It is usually caused by genetic disorders. The most common cause is achondroplasia, in which individuals grow up with disproportional limbs. This accounts for 70% of dwarfism causes. Other causes of dwarfism include spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita (SED) and osteogenesis imperfecta (OI). Proportional dwarfism is usually caused by a hormonal imbalance. How is dwarfism diagnosed? Unusually short stature for a child's age is usually what brings the child to medical attention. Skeletal dysplasia ("dwarfism") is usually suspected because of obvious physical features (e.g., unusual configuration of face or shape of skull), because of an obviously affected parent, or because body measurements (arm span, upper to lower segment ratio) indicate disproportion. Most children with suspected skeletal dysplasias will be referred to a genetics clinic for diagnostic confirmation and genetic counselling. Extreme shortness with completely normal proportions sometimes indicates growth hormone deficiency (pituitary dwarfism). Short stature alone, in the absence of any other abnormalities, may simply be genetic, particularly if a person is born into a family of people who are relatively short. After all these facts about dwarfism, most of us would be feeling rather sympathetic towards these 'dwarfs'. It isn't their fault to be short for life, right? Treatment of most dwarfism arising from genetic defects is limited to palliation of symptoms and side effects; unfortunately there is no available cure for dwarfism. However, pitituary dwarfism can be effectively treated through 11:15 PM
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