Dwarfism

Dwarfism occurs when there is generalized deficiency of anterior pituitary secretion(pan hypopituitarism) during childhood.
All the physical parts of the body develop in appropriate proportion to one another, but the rate of development is greatly decreased.
A child who has reached the age of 10 years may have the bodily development of a child aged 4 to 5 years, and the same person at age 20 years may have the bodily development of a child aged 7 to 10 years/
A person with pan hypopituitary dwarfism does not pass through puberty and never secretes sufficient quantities of gonadotropic hormones to develop adult sexual functions..
In one third of such dwarfs, however, only growth hormone is deficient; these persons do mature sexually and occasionally reproduce.
In one type of dwarfism (the African pygmy and the Lévi-Lorain dwarf), the rate of Growth Hormone secretion is normal or high, but there is a hereditary inability to form somatomedin C (IGF-1), which is a key step for the promotion of growth by Growth hormone.

Hypothyroidism in babies just afterbirth. This is known as Cretinism.
It can occur in patients with precocious puberty.
In syndrome of gonadal dysgenesis seen in patients who have an XO chromosomal pattern instead of an XX or XY pattern.
Various bone & metabolic diseases also cause stunted growth, and in many cases there is no known cause (“constitutional delayed growth”).
Chronic abuse and neglect in children, independent of malnutrition. This condition is known as psychosocial dwarfism or the Kaspar Hauser syndrome.
Finally, achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism in humans. It is characterized by short limbs with a normal trunk.

Hormones & Signal Transduction 5 Sections28 LessonsLifetime