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eLetters to:

SPECIAL ARTICLES:
David B. Allen
Growth Hormone Therapy for Short Stature: Is the Benefit Worth the Burden?
Pediatrics 2006; 118: 343-348 [Full text] [PDF]
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eLetters published:

[Read eLetters] Growing Normally or NOT?
Susan L Smith, Mary Andrews   (8 September 2006)

Growing Normally or NOT? 8 September 2006
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Susan L Smith,
Director of Medical Education
The MAGIC Foundation,
Mary Andrews

Send letter to journal:
Re: Growing Normally or NOT?

sue{at}magicfoundation.org Susan L Smith, et al.

Sirs, Dr Allen is to be congratulated on this article published in Vol 118. He provides a balanced view of the indicated uses of GH in the USA.

We take issue with two important facts; Firstly, children with Idiopathic Short Stature (ISS)are not growing at a normal rate and often are not at an appropriate height for their genetic expectation. The cause of their growth failure is simply not known at this time, as advances in science occurr we may well discover the reason for this growth abnormality, right now we should be offering our children the best that medicine has to offer, rhGH.This is not a cosmetic issue. Secondly, Dr Allen states that 'enthusiasm and support for rhGH treatment will surely wane in the future', on the contrary as advances and uses of rhGH expand,as a profession we should be encouraging our colleaugues in the biotechnology industry to invest in clinical research into broader uses of rhGH in many of the metabolic and chronic diseases that impact the lives of our patients.

Susan L Smith RN CDE CNS PNP

Conflict of Interest:

None declared