What Condition Is HGH Taken for in Women?

Turner syndrome, an imbalance of chromosomes that occurs exclusively in women, causes girls to remain abnormally short, without the growth spurt common to puberty. Treatment with human growth hormone, or HGH, from childhood into young adulthood can enable women with Turner syndrome to grow more normally and make up some of the height differential.

Turner syndrome

• Turner syndrome, named for discoverer Dr. Henry Turner, occurs as the result of a missing X chromosome. Females normally have two X chromosomes, while males have an X chromosome and a Y chromosome. Since males cannot survive with a Y chromosome alone, but females can live with a single X chromosome, only females can live with Turner syndrome, according to the University of Utah Genetics Center.

Symptoms

• Women with Turner syndrome most commonly suffer from slow, incomplete growth, leading to short stature in both childhood and adulthood. Turner syndrome patients who do not receive the human growth hormone treatment commonly prescribed for the condition tend to average 4 feet 8 inches in height. Women with untreated Turner syndrome also tend to continue their slow growth rate even during puberty. Their ovaries have trouble producing the hormones that result in secondary sexual characteristics, and they cannot have children.

Human Growth Hormone

• The Food and Drug Administration has approved human growth hormone, a substance naturally produced by the pituitary gland, as a means of helping Turner syndrome patients compensate for some of their hormonal issues. Doctors inject a synthetic form of this hormone into people whose pituitary glands cannot produce enough of the hormone to overcome the effects of the syndrome on their own. Human growth hormone can help, not only with growth issues, but also with certain other medical conditions common to both men and women, such as muscle atrophy from AIDS or recovery from injuries, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Treatment

• Once a girl with Turner syndrome begins to fall under the 5th percentile of growth for her age group, doctors will usually initiate treatment with HGH. In some cases, anabolic steroids accompany the human growth hormone therapy, and as the girl enters puberty estrogen may also join the treatment regimen. The extra height gained depends on the timing and balance between these administered hormones, along with how early the doctor begins the human growth hormone dosages and the amount of the dosages. Some patients do not respond to the therapy at all, while others may gain an extra 2 to 6 inches in height.

Considerations

• Doctors must maintain a delicate balance between human growth hormone and estrogen as the patient grows into adulthood. Skeletal growth continues until a condition called fused epiphyses, the final fusing of the ends of the bones, takes place. Estrogen, however, increases bone density and triggers the fusion process that eventually puts a stop to bone growth. The doctor, the patient and the patient's family must all agree on the goals and priorities for both height and feminization.