There are many possible reasons why a child may grow slowly, including: hereditary factors (short parents), diseases affecting the kidneys; heart, lungs or intestines; hormone imbalances; severe stress or emotional deprivation; infections in the womb before birth; bone diseases; and genetic or chromosomal abnormalities. The Turner Syndrome (known as Ullrich-Turner Syndrome in Germany) is a congenital disease. A German doctor named Ullrich published his article in 1930. American doctor Henry Turner recognized a pattern of short stature and incomplete sexual maturation in otherwise normal females. He published a comprehensive medical description of the syndrome. It was not until 1959, that it became clear the syndrome was due to lack of sex chromosome material. Turner's Syndrome is a rare chromosomal disorder that affects one in approximately 2,500 females. Females normally have two X-chromosomes. However, in those with Turner's Syndrome, one X chromosome is absent or is damaged.
OTHER NAMES
Depending on the doctor, Turner's Syndrome may be diagnosed with one of the following alternative names: 45 - X Syndrome,
Bonnevie-Ulrich Syndrome, Chromosome X, Monosomy X, Morgagni-
Turner-Albright Syndrome, Ovarian Dwarfism, Turner Type, among others. SYNDROME CHARACTERISTICS
A reduced growth in height is the commonest visible characteristic of the syndrome, (the average adult height is 4 feet 8 inches) and may be the only sign before puberty. Their body proportions are normal. Girls with this syndrome may have many middle ear infections during childhood; if not treated, these chronic infections could cause hearing loss. Up to the age of about 2 years, growth in height is approximately normal, but then it lags behind that of other girls. Greatly reduced growth in height of a female child should lead to a chromosome test if no diagnosis has already been made. Early diagnosis is very importance in order to be able to give enough correct information to the parents, and gradually to the child herself, so that she has the best possibilities for development.
Early diagnosis is also important in case surgical treatment of the congenital heart defect (seen in about 20 per cent of cases) is indicated. The commonest defect is a narrowing of the main artery from the heart aortic coarctation. A regular ultrasound examination of the heart ...
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...s are relatively limited. So far, researchers think it will be possible to increase the final height by 5-10 centimeters, depending on the duration of treatment. Treatment is started at slightly different ages in different countries, but often at an age of about 6-7 years. In order to achieve puberty development and a body height of more than the average of about
146 cm, oestrogen and growth hormone must be given. Oestrogen therapy should start after one has taken the growth hormone for at least two years (about 12-13 years old is average), using small doses at first to promote sexual development. Oestrogen is gradually supplemented by progesterone (a stronger female hormone) as the girl matures. The treatment can be given as tablets, injections, or oestrogen plaster.
Identification and Cure Although Turner Syndrome can be identified in the fetus or with a blood test, there is not a known cure for it. With growth hormone replacement therapy and oestrogen injections (female hormones), the female victim of
Turner syndrome can live an outwardly normal life. Ongoing research in reproduction and adoption make it possible for these women to marry and raise children.
ACHONDROPLASIA is known as being undersized, or less than 50in. in height. Having short limbs, a normal sized trunk, large head with a depressed nasal bridge and small face. This is a result of a disease in the thyroid gland. It can also be caused by Down syndrome or absorption, a cartilaginous tissue during the fetal stage. Hypochondroplasia, a mild form of dwarfism. Spinal tuberculosis and the deficiency of the pituitary gland secretions. Treatment with thyroxin or thyroid extract early in childhood results in normal growth and development. Somatrophin, also known as the human growth hormone is secreted by the anterior pituitary. Respiratory problems start to occur in infants. Symptoms of problems include snoring and sleeping with neck in a hyperextended condition. The limbs have rhizometic shortening. The legs are straight in infantry but when a child. He begins walking they develop a knock-knee position. When the child continues to walk legs begin to have a bowed-leg look. Occasionally, these curvatures are fixed. As the child continues to walk the kyphosis disappears and the back assumes a lordotic posture. If a delay in child’s walking occurs, the spine should be monitored closely for signs of gibbous formation. In infancy, hypercephalus can occur. Infants head circumference should be monitored close . Monthly checks of head circumference must be monitored. Radiologic studies are indicated if head circumference raises to disproportionately, or if symptoms of hydrocephalus. Child’s pediatrician should have a copy of head circumference curves for children with achondroplasia. Radiologic procedures for dwarfism include head ultrasound, C-T scan, or MRI of the head. If intervention is necessary, a ventriculoperitoneal shunt is placed relieving the pressure. Infants should also be monitored for foramen magnum compression. It is the opening at the base of the skull in which the brain stem and cervical spinal cord exit. When you have achondroplasia the foramen magnum is compressing the brain stem and spinal cord. Symptoms of narrowing include apnea the cessation of breathing and cervical myleopathy. C-T scans and MRI scans are done to examine the size of the infectious foramen magnum. A neurosurgical procedure called a foramen magnum decompression is executed to alarge foramen and alleviate further symptoms. Adolescents are at risk of getting lumbosacral spinal stenosis. The lumber spinal cord or nerve roots become compressed producing nerosurgical symptoms. Initial symptoms including weakness, tingling, and pain of the legs. Pain usually alleviated by assuming a squatting position.
Turner’s Syndrome, which is one of the most common chromosomal abnormalities, is defined as “a syndrome with a chromosome count of 45 and only one X chromosome.” Turner’s was first described in 1938. Henry Turner, an endocrinologist from Oklahoma City, was the first to discover this syndrome. He was curious about why seven of his female patients, six adolescents and one adult, who he was treating for dwarfism and lack of development, were not responding to the treatments. He described the women as not matured, with short necks and low hairlines in the back, and an increased angle at which the elbow was bent. After many tests, the results showed that all of the women were missing an X chromosome.
Steven-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) is an immune mediated hypersensitivity complex, most often triggered by medications (Foster, 2011). It is characterized by a prodrome of malaise and fever, followed by rapid onset of erythematous or purpuric macules and plaques. The skin lesions progress to epidermal necrosis and sloughing. Mucosal membranes are affected in 92 to 100 percent of patients, usually at two or more distinct sites (High & Nirken, 2012).
Turner Syndrome is a genetic disorder that is characterized by the absence of part or all of the second X chromosome in women. Women who have Turner Syndrome typically have short stature, sexual infantilism, congenital webbing of the neck, and cubitus valgus, which is when the forearm is angled away from the body at a greater degree than normal. A number of health issues accompany the absence of this X chromosome, indicating that a large number of specialists are needed in order to properly treat this disease. These specialists include embryology, pediatrics, gynecology and obstetrics, endocrinology, cardiology, gastroenterology, otorhinology, and ophthalmology (Gravholt, 2005).
Rett syndrome is a particular neurological disorder that is first found in the first few months of life and typically almost always diagnosed in girls, but can be seen in boys, rarely, but it is possible (International Rett Syndrome Foundation, 2014). Rett syndrome symptoms soon appear after an early period of regular or near regular development until six to eighteen months of life, when there is a slowing down or stopping of skills. A period of backsliding then follows when the young female child loses communication skills and purposeful use of her hands. Soon, the known physical handicaps became visible such as washing hands, difficulty walking, and head growth abnormalities, the head will grow slower than it supposed to. More symptoms that may be brought on by the syndrome can include seizures and rapid and/or slow breathing repetitions while the child is not sleep. In the younger years of childlife, there may be a time of separation or withdrawal when she is irritable and cries inconsolably. With time, motor skill problems may increase, but in generally, the irritability the child endures lessens and eye contact and communication improve (International Rett Syndrome Foundation, 2014). According to rettsyndrome.org, Rett syndrome is caused by mutations on the X chromosome on a gene called MECP2. There are more than 200 different mutations found on the MECP2 gene. Most of these mutations are found in eight different spots. It strikes all racial and ethnic groups, and occurs worldwide in 1 of every 10,000 to 23,000 female births (Rett Syndrome Foundation, 2014). It is not a degenerative disorder, saying that this syndrome does not cause the body or the mind of the infected child to become weaker. It also causes problems in brai...
Dwarfism, also known as achondroplasia, is a hereditary condition where the growth of long bones by the natural formation of the bone of cartilage is less advanced,which could result in very short limbs and sometimes Hemifacial Microsomia. This disorder, discovered by Dr. John Wasmuth in 1994, the scientists at the University of California at Irvine found the gene that causes the problem, achondroplasia, just six weeks after they began searching for it. The symptoms for this disorder are pressure on the brain and spinal cord, resulting in nerve and breathing problems, hydrocephalus, which is extra fluid in the brain,
Intrauterine growth retardation is now known as intrauterine growth restriction or IUGR. Intrauterine growth restriction is a condition where an unborn baby is not growing at the normal rate that it should and is therefore smaller than the 10th percentile for their gestational age (Bates, et al., 2015). Studies have shown what size a baby should be at every stage of the pregnancy. In the earlier months of the pregnancy, all babies are normally the same size; only if there is a health concern should there be any deviation. Babies in the later stages of the pregnancy normally start to vary in weight and size. However, just because a baby is small in utero doesn’t mean that it is an IUGR baby. If the mother or father is very petite, then the baby may be a smaller baby; there is only concern when the baby isn’t growing at a normal rate. The health care provider measures the uterus during every prenatal visit to ensure that the uterus is growing, and an ultrasound can help confirm the baby’s growth more. Intrauterine growth restriction increases the risk of newborn complications, as well as complications during the
In 1942 Doctor Harry Klinefelter wrote a paper about some men who he found had strange symptoms. These symptoms included very little facial/body hair, small testes, and an inability to produce sperm. Seventeen years later in 1959 the extra X chromosome that is characteristic of the condition was discovered. Klinefelter Syndrome is a condition that affects male chromosomes. Humans in general have about 46 chromosomes in total. Out of these 46, only two will determine if a person will be male or female. The sex chromosomes in women typically present as XX, while the sex chromosomes in males present as XY. With Klinefelter syndrome, also known as (47, XXY) and XXY Syndrome only males are able to affected with this chromosomal condition where they end up with an extra X chromosome on almost all of their cells.
Turner Syndrome is a disease where only girls/women are affected. Basically this disease is when a sex chromosome is or is partially missing. This can result to short height, failure to start puberty and normal time, infertility, heart defects, learning disabilities, and social adjustment problems. Turner sydrome can be diagnosed before birth, during infancy, or early childhood. Often times it is diagnosed in later teen years to even early adult. All women that have the disease normally need ongoing medical care to stay healthy.
Williams Syndrome, also known as Williams-Beuren Syndrome, is a genetic disorder caused by a deletion along chromosome seven. It is named for the two men who discovered and studied it in 1961, J.C.P. Williams of the United States and A.J. Beuren of Germany. Those with the disorder can be identified by their characteristic facial structure, the presence of cardiovascular anomalies and hypercalcemia, and a bright, outgoing personality. The exact number of those affected is unknown, however experts estimate that the probability of having Williams Syndrome is between 1 in 7,500 and 1 in 20,000, and occurs equally in men and women of every nationality.
Like Down syndrome, Turner syndrome may cause problems in a patient's development, and the two main characteristics of Turner syndrome are short height and undeveloped ovaries. No cure has been found yet for this syndrome. Therefore, treatment is only used to minimize the symptoms. For example, patients use growth hormone injections weekly to fix the short height problem, and they follow estrogen replacement therapy to stimulate the reproductive system.
In honor of Turner Syndrome Awareness Month that just passed this February, we are dedicating this post to those with Turner Syndrome, a condition that rarely discussed.
Biology mainly concentrates on the study of life and any other factors that affect it positively or negatively. The study of biology is further sub-divided into sections and the most important being genetics that studies the genetically composition and effects to human life. For instance, gigantism which is an abnormal growth caused by the excess hormone growth at childhood before the bone plates closes. Though gigantism is rare, it is caused due to some factors among them; Noncancerous tumor of the pituitary gland, Neurofibromatosis, McCune-Albright Syndrome (MAS), Carney complex and Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia type 1(MEN-1). This abnormal growth occurs mainly before the closure of the bone growth plate. In any case the growth hormone occurs after the normal growth has stopped then the condition is known as acromegaly (Gina Gould ‘et al’, 2004).
...omosomes or genetic/chromosomal disorders. The most common type of genetic or chromosomal disorder is Down Syndrome or trisomy 21 (Cherry, n.d.). The condition occurs when a child has three chromosomes at the site of the twenty-first chromosome rather than the normal two. Some of the most common signs of Down Syndrome include round face, thick tongue, slanted eyes, hearing problems, heart defects, and intellectual impairment.
There are many different types of dwarfism that researchers have confirmed today, but there still are many genes for dwarfism that remain unidentified.The most common of these known causes is achondroplasia, a bone growth disorder.The Little People Online website states that most dwarfs who suffer from achondroplasia are born to “average-size” parents, and that their birth rate is somewhere between onein26,000-40,000www.lpaonline.org).The main characteristics of this form of dwarfism are normal trunk size with short appendages, irregularly large heads wi...