1. GROWTH ALTERATION ► Causes ► Symptoms ► Consequences ► Treatments ► Prevention ► Goals for the future ► People affected

2. CAUSES ► Mutation of specific genes ► Congenital diseases or malformations ► Intracranial tumors ► Severe cranial traumatism ► Autoimmune inflamation (hypohysitis) ► Bad nutrition

3. SYMPTOMS ► It is impossible to define the symptoms because there are many because growth alteration can be produced by various pathological circumstances. ► But one of them can be alteration in growth of stature that is very common, like delays in growth.

4. CONSEQUENCES Some consequences are: ► Degeneration and dystrophy (the muscles weaken as time passes). ► Alteration of the circulation. ► Inflammation. ► Deformity of muscles. ► Alteration in stature.

5. TREATMENTS DAILY INJECTIONS OF GROWTH HORMONE ► Injections of GH into the blood ► Successful in children ► Less effetiveness in adults BONE STRETCHING ► Surgery to strech the legs gradually ► Recommended to children whose bones are still growing ► Risk of infection

6. PREVENTION ► The prevention starts by weighing and measuring our children when they are small. You have to bring your child to the doctor to make him a growth exam. This should be done periodically. ► To diagnose an alteration in growth doctors should weigh and measure the child and draw a chart showing their growth curve.

7. GROWTH CURVE

8. Goals for the future ► Right now for some alterations of growth we use growth hormone, which is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth and has no secondary effects. ► For the future, it is expected to improve, but now it is still being investigated.

9. PEOPLE AFFECTED ► There are spontaneous cases all around the world ► Growth alteration is more common in boys than in girls ► It affects to 1 of every 4000 children