Actually, another concern is Adrenal Insufficiency with Panhypopituitarism, as without adrenal corticosteriods, the body cannot respond to stress and death could happen. I found this discussion about GH deficiency in children:
III. PEDIATRICS<o:p></o:p> Growth Hormone Deficiency and Risk of Death<o:p></o:p> Growth hormone deficiency results from a failure of the pituitary gland to make sufficient amounts of the hormone. Individuals who lack growth hormone are abnormally short. Growth hormone is also needed to maintain normal blood sugar and its absence may result in potentially fatal drops in blood sugar (hypoglycemia). According to the 1994 Utah Growth Hormone Study, growth hormone deficiency occurs in 1 out of every 3,480 children. Patients who can't make their own growth hormone may also lack other hormones produced by the pituitary, including the hormone that regulates the adrenal glands. The adrenals, located atop the kidneys, secrete cortisol, a hormone that protects the body in stressful situations. In times of illness or other stress, individuals who lack adrenal hormones are subject to an adrenal crisis - a potentially fatal loss of salts and fluids. However, an adrenal crisis can be treated and sometimes prevented with the drug hydrocortisone. In addition to those whose pituitaries fail to make the proper hormone to regulate the adrenal glands, adrenal crisis may also result from other medical conditions. While it is known that patients who received pituitary-derived growth hormone (GH) are at excess risk of mortality from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, it is not known if these same patients were at increased risk of death from other conditions, particularly preventable conditions.
Note... Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease was a threat when GH was processed from GH from cadavers. The GH sources that we receive now is recombinant GH.
As a result, a study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics (2004;144:430-435), followed a cohort (N=6,107) from known US pituitary-derived GH recipients, who were treated between 1963 and 1985. Deaths were identified by reports from physicians and parents and the National Death Index. Rates were compared with the expected rates for the US population standardized for race, age, and gender. Results of the study showed that over the course of the observation period (1963-1996), there were 433 deaths. Based on epidemiological data, there should have been 114 deaths (relative risk [RR], 3.8; P<.0001). Risk was increased in subjects with GH deficiency caused by any tumor (RR, 10.4; P<.0001). Surprisingly, subjects with hypoglycemia treated within the first 6 months of life were at extremely high risk (RR, 18.3; P<.0001), as were all subjects with adrenal insufficiency (RR, 7.1; P<.0001). A quarter of all deaths were sudden and unexpected. Of the 26 cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, four cases have died since 2000. According to the authors, the death rate in pituitary-derived GH recipients was almost four times the expected rate. It should be clearly noted that replacing pituitary-derived GH with recombinant GH has only eliminated the risk of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and that hypoglycemia and adrenal insufficiency accounted for far more mortality than Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The authors added that the large number of potentially preventable deaths in patients with adrenal insufficiency and hypoglycemia underscores the importance of early intervention when infection occurs in patients with adrenal insufficiency, and aggressive treatment of panhypopituitarism. Reference Link
![]() For adults, there is alot of information out there on the benefits of Human Growth Hormone Replacement. I encourage you to research and discuss with your doctor. It is true that insurance companies give patients alot of grief with medically necessary GH. You may seek out programs directly from the manufacturer, research studies, and may become your own best advocate for insurance reimbursement.
Interesting topic! ![]() |
