What is Pituitary Dwarfism (Growth Hormone Deficiency, Panhypopituitarism?)

My daughter has 100% growth hormone deficiency, her body also doesn’t produce any estrogen or progesterone, her thyroid doesn’t function properly and she struggles with anxiety and OCD. She came to live with us just before she turned eight years old, we adopted her when she was nine and now she is eighteen. She looks completely normal, attends college and has held a part-time job for almost 3 years. So, unless she chooses to share her medical problems with her friends or acquaintances, they wouldn’t have any idea that she struggles with these issues. She is supposed to continue using a small amount of growth hormone injections daily as an adult to maintain muscle tone.

I pasted some information below with the URL’s from some web sites that I found to be quite interesting and pertinent. I wish I had been able to find all of this information when she was first placed with us. We went through a lot of trial and error and testing.

I found the following definition to be helpful, especially if you weren’t previously aware of this condition.

“There are 2 types of dwarfs. The pituitary dwarf has too little growth hormone. The achondroplastic dwarf has an orthopedic reason for having short limbs and a short spinal column. The pituitary dwarf lacks growth hormone (an endocrine reason).”

“An abnormally short height in childhood may occur if the pituitary gland does not produce enough growth hormone. It can be caused by a variety of genetic mutations (such as Pit-1 gene, Prop-1 gene, growth hormone receptor gene, and growth hormone gene), absence of the pituitary gland, severe brain injury, or a tumor in the pituitary gland, but in most cases no underlying cause of the deficiency is found.

• These children usually appear normal at birth, with a normal length and weight.

• Growth retardation may become evident in infancy and persist throughout childhood. The child's "growth curve," which is usually plotted on a standardized growth chart by the pediatrician, may range from flat (no growth) to very shallow (minimal growth). Normal puberty may or may not occur, depending on the degree to which the pituitary can produce adequate hormone levels other than growth hormone.

• Growth hormone is one of the many hormones produced by the front part of the pituitary gland (a gland at the base of the skull). After the hormone is made, it is secreted into the bloodstream, to affect many parts of the body.

• A section of the brain called the hypothalamus sends a messenger substance to the pituitary gland, telling it to produce growth hormone.”

• http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001176.htm
http://health.allrefer.com/health/pituitary-dwarfism-info.html

I’ll continue discussing the condition along with test and treatment in another article, as I seem to be running on a bit much here.