For the majority of people, growth hormone is produced naturally by the pituitary gland in the brain. As its name implies, growth hormone is responsible for making us grow. However, it also contributes to many other important functions in the body, such as:
- Growing strong and healthy bones
- Regulating the body’s metabolism, specifically the balance between lean muscle and fat
- Developing and maintaining the bodies organs
- General well-being and energy levels
What causes poor growth?
There are many possible reasons why a child may seem to be growing more slowly than their peers or siblings. Some are entirely harmless and do not affect the child’s health. For example, some children simply grow at a different rate from others and will eventually catch up as they get older.
However, there are other, more serious reasons why a child might not be growing as he/she should. These reasons can range from poor nutrition to certain medical conditions, such as kidney or liver disease. It may even be that their body is not making enough growth hormone, the hormone responsible for making them grow.
Human growth hormone (hGH) or growth hormone therapy (GHT) is a biosynthetic hormone replacement therapy. It is identical to the natural growth hormone produced by the body. As it is a protein, it needs to be injected in order to work properly.
GHT is normally used to treat children who are not growing due to an underlying medical condition. It could also treat adults affected by growth hormone deficiency.
For children who need daily growth hormone injections, improvements and advancements in device design have made a big difference. Today, there are pens with many different useful features to choose from.
We began pioneering advances in growth hormone therapeutics more than 30 years ago, and three decades later our growth disorder treatments are still benefiting people around the world.
Willing to bring innovative solutions to our patients, our scientists have applied our long-standing expertise in protein engineering to develop a long-acting growth hormone suitable for once-weekly treatment.
