Who has growth hormone deficiency and why does it occur?
About 50,000 adults have growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in the United States. GHD occurs at a rate of about one case per 3,500 children.\ A child may have GHD for many reasons. Some children are born with conditions that cause problems with growth hormone production. Others experience an illness or trauma that damage part of the pituitary or another part of the brain. Many children have GHD for unknown reasons. Various degrees of deficiency can occur, ranging from partial to complete lack of growth hormone. Some children who take growth hormone do not have a growth hormone deficiency, but instead have one of many other conditions that result in slowed growth (e.g., chronic kidney disease, Turner syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, or Noonan Syndrome). Adult GHD occurs when the pituitary gland does not release enough growth hormone. Common causes of GHD in adults are brain trauma, a pituitary tumor, or treatment of the pituitary tumor with surgery or radiation. What other conditions are t
