The chemical composition of growth hormone in higher animals and humans is protein. Growth hormone can indirectly promote the formation of epiphyseal cartilage during the growth period by promoting the production of growth hormone mediators in the liver, and promote the growth of bone and cartilage, thereby increasing the height of the body. Growth hormone also has an effect on intermediary metabolism and energy metabolism, which can promote protein synthesis and enhance the uptake and utilization of important elements such as sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, sulfur, etc. At the same time, it accelerates lipolysis by inhibiting the consumption of sugar, and shifts the source of energy from glucose metabolism to fat metabolism. In early childhood, if growth hormone secretion is insufficient, it will lead to growth retardation, the body grows especially short, called "dwarfism"; if growth hormone secretion is too much, it can cause excessive growth of the whole body, bone growth is especially significant, resulting in abnormally tall stature, called "gigantism "Gigantism. After adulthood, epiphysis has been fused, long bones no longer grow, at this time, such as growth hormone secretion, will stimulate the limb bones, facial bones, soft tissues and other hyperplasia, manifested as the hands, feet, nose, jaw, ears, tongue, and liver, kidneys and other internal organs show disproportionate increase, called "acromegaly". Gigantism and acromegaly, if caused by anterior pituitary tumors, can be treated with local radiation or surgical resection. High-dose estrogen has the effect of inhibiting the secretion of growth hormone by the pituitary gland. Hormone therapy should be given early for dwarfism, and human growth hormone has significant efficacy in dwarfism. Due to the difficulty of growth hormone source, the clinical application of growth hormone has not been widely carried out so far. At present, scientists have tried to isolate the human growth hormone gene from the chromosome DNA chain by genetic engineering method, recombine it into plasmid, and transform it with E. coli, in order to produce human growth hormone by fermentation method, so the clinical application can be expected to be promoted. In addition, some children with dwarfism do not have a reduction in the number of growth hormone-secreting cells in the pituitary gland, but the pathogenesis of the disease may be in the hypothalamic neurosecretory cells showing degenerative changes, resulting in a lack of growth hormone-releasing hormone. At present, the treatment of this kind of children with synthetic human pancreatic growth hormone-releasing factor has already achieved certain efficacy.

Growth hormone can promote human growth, and can regulate the body's material metabolism. Growth hormone increases blood glucose by inhibiting the use of glucose by muscle and adipose tissue, while promoting gluconeogenesis and the breakdown of glycogen in the liver. Growth hormone promotes lipolysis and elevates plasma free fatty acids. During starvation, insulin secretion decreases and growth hormone secretion increases, resulting in a decrease in glucose utilization and an increase in fat utilization in the blood, at which time plasma glucose and free fatty acid levels rise.

Pharmaceuticals are not the best way to increase height

Ma Hongwei, director of developmental pediatrics at the Second Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, believes that: at present, children's short stature caused by disease is not uncommon, so it is recommended that children with short stature should not blindly rely on medication "to increase height", and should be to hospitals to clarify the cause of the specialist clinic, and to treat the symptoms of the problem. The first thing you need to do is to get the right treatment for your condition.

Dr. Ma introduced: currently found more than 300 kinds of diseases with short stature, including: malnutrition, congenital ovarian hypoplasia in girls, pituitary dwarf, abnormal bone development. Due to disease-induced low secretion of growth hormone in children, you can use different drugs to promote growth hormone rise, early to the hospital to check, find out the cause of the disease, in order to treat the symptoms.

For, now many parents to buy expensive "heightening drugs" to the child to take the situation, Shenyang Municipal Women and Children's Health Center, director of developmental pediatrics Wang Shujie said: the current market publicity of a variety of height-enhancing drugs are not applicable to every child, for example: many children are low due to hypothyroidism, once the checkups found that children with low levels of thyroxine, only need to take thyroxine tablets can stimulate the secretion of growth hormone; and many short girls can not easily take a variety of height-enhancing drugs, should first be considered whether the congenital ovarian hypoplasia, through the regular hospital ultrasound and chromosome examination, to confirm the diagnosis of the growth hormone treatment can be used.

Finally, the child development experts reminded parents: children still need to start from the scientific nutrition, appropriate amount of exercise, adequate sleep, parents must not blindly trust the height increase drug, height increase instrument, so as not to miss the child's growth and development of the best time.