Height and hydro/brain damage/ CP

[Lauren88]

any or all of the above lol

How tall are you guys? I'm about 5 foot, 5 foot 1 (anomalous for my family history I think - dad's entire family are/were always tall - he's 6 foot 2 and the shortest male! :p Mum's family are I think shorter but still taller than me she's 5 foot 3 - oh for a couple of extra inches! lol

Anyway my then paediatrician when he reviewed me at about 13 when I was a similar height to now (befoe he got transferred to an area with needier kids :( :mad: said he thought I would not grow much more because of my hydro but I don't know why! Also does it have anything to do with brain damage/CP?

Any thoughts appreciated

[LIZARD]

Hey, Lauren. :)

It could be a combo of all of your issues, but...did you have precocious puberty? If you were really early--say, 6 or so, or possibly even later--it could impact your height. I was borderline, and my height is not affected--I'm 5'6", but precocious puberty does increase the chance of shorter height. As far as our genes for such things, I'd say only regard them casually, as hydro can have a significant--and even profound--effect on us in all areas of development.


LIZARD :)

[Brandon's Mom]

Lauren~

My son Brandon has both CP and Hydro and I would venture to say that your short stature has more to do with your having CP than the Hydro, particularly if your muscles are very tight from the CP. If the muscles aren't stretching that means the bones aren't being forced to grow either. My son is quite short- 19 years old and only 5'3" or 5'4" and since his left side is more affected than his right side, his right leg and arm are longer than those on the left. Even his fingers on his left hand are shorter than those on his right hand because the muscles have always been tight on that side.

My daughter Brittany has Hydro with no CP and she is short 5'1" if she's lucky, but that is because all of the women in my family except for me are short. I'm 5'6" but all the other women in my family are under 5'3".

[Lauren88]

Lizard - at what point is puberty considered precocious? I started menstruating etc at 10
Joy - you may be right I'm left hemi too and left side is shorter I think - knee is contracted so difficult to tell. Thanks for the info on Brittany and Brandon - from their pics they look pretty tall! lol

[LIZARD]

Lizard - at what point is puberty considered precocious? I started menstruating etc at 10

I did, too. I understand it to be considered precocious if breast growth begins before age 8 (I was 8, in fact), but there may be some variation. Ask your ped about it.


LIZARD :)

[ian]

i know this may have nothing to do with me but if i may say something ....and that is i have brain damage but i was told my stroke caused mine. by the way i am 5'4"

[Suecr]

Hi, if any of the brain damage affected the pituary gland, then yes there could be a connection. My daughters pituary gland does not produce any growth hormone, so she is subject to a shot every day until?? Her cortisol is also starting to drop off. But she also has a very large septated arachnoid cyst. Anyway, so that is all I know, but if they can pinpoint the damaged area, the answer may lie in what that area controls.

[ian]

Hi, if any of the brain damage affected the pituary gland, then yes there could be a connection. My daughters pituary gland does not produce any growth hormone, so she is subject to a shot every day until?? Her cortisol is also starting to drop off. But she also has a very large septated arachnoid cyst. Anyway, so that is all I know, but if they can pinpoint the damaged area, the answer may lie in what that area controls.
pituitary gland

[Penny W.]

I am short in stature (tall initially, stopped growing early) with hydrocephalus, brain damage but no cerebral palsy. In 1980 I learnt that my pituitary gland is overactive. It is said to be because my first valve/shunt is right on it.

Before that, in the first of the six years of high school, one doctor seemed to silently wonder why I had "developed" so early (I was 12 years old at the time). This was during a school visit by the doctor but the sister sounded like she had never heard of hydrocephalus.

I guess everyone is different and I have never heard of anyone else (out here at least) having pituitary issues with hydrocephalus. An association out here for the former, did not know which category to put me in for its buddy system because (I'd say) pituitary issues and hydrocephalus issues together must be rare.

[ian]

Hey all
Would anyone know where the pituitary gland is located in the brain????

[LIZARD]

Hey all
Would anyone know where the pituitary gland is located in the brain????

Here's a good pic: http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/endocrine/hypopit/anatomy.html


LIZARD :)

[ian]

thats on the right side of the brain .. right?

[mjb1966uk]

I never thought about height and hydro.

Yes, I'm short at 5 foot 5½ (yes that ½ is important to me :))

I was average height till puberty (at 11). Didn't grow much after that.

However, my mother was 4'11", her brother 5' 3" and her father 5' 3", so I suppose I got my height genes from her side of the family.

My dad was 5' 10". Unfortunately I got my hair loss from that side of the family.

Why couldn't it have been the other way round? :)

Mark

[MegNJaxMom]

This is interesting. Megs has always been "tall for her age" and is nearly as tall as her five year old brother. My hubby is 6'4" and I am 5'4", so it will be interesting to see!

[AMBush]

Marijke is 14 and stands 4'10" tall. Her pediatrician estimates that she may grow another inch or two, putting her at 5' tall. Teaghan is 11 and is 5' tall already. I am 5'4" tall and my husband is 6' tall.

The pediatrician has suggested that Marijke's comparatively short stature is due to her medications (she's been on some form or another of stimulants pretty much since birth, starting with a caffeine IV when she was a 26 week preemie, and ending up with her current assortment of meds - Trileptal, Abilify, Concerta & Tenex). We did see the onset of puberty very quickly after a shunt revision when she was 9 - literally within weeks.

[Nat Hyland]

The pituitary gland is located at the base of (and is attached to) the hypothalamus. Many of the hormones produced in the hypothalamus are stored in and released from the pituitary gland. The hypothalamus controls many functions important in homeostasis of the body (water balance/thirst, hunger, autonomic functions such as control of blood pressure, heart beat and digestive function, and regulation of sleep/wake cycles). The hypothalamus forms part of the walls of the third ventricle.

Nat.

[Nat Hyland]

early puberty is a common problem for people who have hydro. I don't think anyone really knows why this happens, but most people I know who have hydro have had this problem. The earlier you go through puberty, the earlier you stop growing, which of course means that you are always going to be shorter than a person who develops later.

I often think that if I didn't have hydro, not only would I be taller, but I would also be thinner. I think an extra few inches would have made a big difference to my overall build. Then again, I seem to have inherited my mother's "fat" genes, while my sister seems to have inherited my dad's "thin" genes - just another reason to be jealous of her!

[LIZARD]

Then again, I seem to have inherited my mother's "fat" genes

Don't feel too bad, Gnatty. I'm the ONLY one in the family who got the "fat" gene...and any of the other medical $h!t. :( :rolleyes:


LIZARD :o

[Lauren88]

[QUOTE=Nat Hyland;225799]early puberty is a common problem for people who have hydro. I don't think anyone really knows why this happens, but most people I know who have hydro have had this problem. The earlier you go through puberty, the earlier you stop growing, which of course means that you are always going to be shorter than a person who develops later.

I often think that if I didn't have hydro, not only would I be taller, but I would also be thinner. I think an extra few inches would have made a big difference to my overall build. QUOTE]

Me too! If I/we were taller the fat would be more spread out ;)

I'm glad this was brought up again, it's really interesting to see other people's experiences and Mark, I know -1/2 an inch matters to me too! :p

It's also interesting to read about the relationship of certain parts of the brain to certain glands - pituitary etc. If the pituitary gland is on the right side of the brain then it makes sense if mine does have problems as the majority of my IVH was on the right side of my brain. Also interesting to note about temp control/changes after shunt surgeries etc - I have always got colder, faster than most people due to poor circulation but after my worst bout of shunt issues in 2001 it has definitely changed for the worse - it is stable though. This makes me want to know more about my brain - which ventricles were/are my shunts in/what condition is my brain in now due to said surgeries/might this affect the pulsating I have? sadly NSs only seem to be interested if we are having familiar, diagnosable, treatable problems :mad:

[Nat Hyland]

Taller people automatically have a larger surface area to volume ratio than short people. This means that taller people always burn more energy than shorter people (because they lose more energy via covection, radiation and conduction to the environment). Taller people also (generally) have more muscle, due to having longer bones (arms and legs). Larger muscles require more energy than smaller muscles, of course.

Nat.

[Jess]

I had similar problems to both Lauren and Lizard when I was younger. I started developing and having weird cycles and whatnot around age 7-8. I ended up seeing an endocrinologist for about three years. I had to take some sort of hormone pills and get shots weekly to stop growing so fast, otherwise I would have been very very short. Probably under five feet tall. I am about 5'3 now. I don't have CP, so my issues where caused by hydro.

[ian]

Thank you Nat for explaining to me about the pituitary gland , I am a little slow when it comes to know about those sorts of things

[joeys]

Hi, if any of the brain damage affected the pituary gland, then yes there could be a connection. My daughters pituary gland does not produce any growth hormone, so she is subject to a shot every day until?? Her cortisol is also starting to drop off. But she also has a very large septated arachnoid cyst. Anyway, so that is all I know, but if they can pinpoint the damaged area, the answer may lie in what that area controls.

Suecr,

I am on growth hormone as an adult at the age of 32. I was originally diagnosed at the age of 22 with adult growth hormone deficiency. Of course, I had already been through all of my surgeries due to the hydrocephalus and the cyst on my optic nerve, but then I got diagnosed with a low testosterone level and a low growth hormone level. As it turns out, since the age of 22, back in 1998, I was still able to grow some when I first started on the growth hormone.

That is something you and your daughter should watch for if she discontinues growth hormone therapy. Just watch for the symptoms of adult growth hormone deficiency. Here is a good website that gives a couple of good links of information that lists the symptoms: http://www.hgfound.org/res_adultsgrowthhormone.html

Joey

[Suecr]

Suecr,

I am on growth hormone as an adult at the age of 32. I was originally diagnosed at the age of 22 with adult growth hormone deficiency. Of course, I had already been through all of my surgeries due to the hydrocephalus and the cyst on my optic nerve, but then I got diagnosed with a low testosterone level and a low growth hormone level. As it turns out, since the age of 22, back in 1998, I was still able to grow some when I first started on the growth hormone.

That is something you and your daughter should watch for if she discontinues growth hormone therapy. Just watch for the symptoms of adult growth hormone deficiency. Here is a good website that gives a couple of good links of information that lists the symptoms: http://www.hgfound.org/res_adultsgrowthhormone.html


Joey


Thank you very much for the quote!:)