Does adding growth hormone help girls with early puberty grow taller?
Effect of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist monotherapy and combination therapy with growth hormone on final adult height in girls with central precocious puberty
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Some girls start puberty too early, which can make them stop growing sooner. Doctors use a medicine to pause puberty, but sometimes growth slows too much. This study checks if adding growth hormone helps them grow more.
Surprising Findings
Final adult height was nearly identical between groups, despite a large difference in height gain relative to predictions.
Most assume that more treatment = taller outcome. But here, the combo group started so far behind that even big gains didn’t close the gap.
Practical Takeaways
For parents of girls with early puberty, ask about predicted adult height and growth velocity to assess if combination therapy might be considered.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Some girls start puberty too early, which can make them stop growing sooner. Doctors use a medicine to pause puberty, but sometimes growth slows too much. This study checks if adding growth hormone helps them grow more.
Surprising Findings
Final adult height was nearly identical between groups, despite a large difference in height gain relative to predictions.
Most assume that more treatment = taller outcome. But here, the combo group started so far behind that even big gains didn’t close the gap.
Practical Takeaways
For parents of girls with early puberty, ask about predicted adult height and growth velocity to assess if combination therapy might be considered.
Publication
Journal
Scientific Reports
Year
2023
Authors
A. Cho, Y. Shim, Hae-sang Lee, J. Hwang
Related Content
Claims (5)
Girls with early puberty who get a combo of two treatments don't end up taller as adults than those who get just one treatment, even though the combo helps them grow more during treatment.
Girls with early puberty who get both a hormone blocker and growth hormone end up taller than expected—about 9 cm more—compared to those who only get the hormone blocker, which helps about 5 cm.
For girls with early puberty who are treated with two hormones (one for puberty and one for growth), the ones who grow more during treatment tend to have started with a lower predicted adult height and more mature bones. How long or how much growth hormone they take doesn’t seem to affect how much they grow.
For girls who start puberty too early, a treatment using certain hormones can help them grow taller than expected — especially if they get a combo of two hormone treatments.
This treatment stops puberty permanently in people based on the sex they were assigned when they were born.