Healthy Children Not Growing Properly May Lack This

 

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

Most healthy children between the ages of four and 10 grow about five centimeters a year. Parents often notice this growth by how quickly their children grow out of their clothes and shoes.

However, when a child does not reach usual growth markers, it could be a sign of a health problem.

One American family knew something might be wrong when their son was able to fit into the same clothes, season after season.

Spencer Baehman is a boy who loves to play baseball.

"My goal is to play college baseball."

But at age 11, he was much shorter than everyone on his team. Although his small size did not stop Spencer from playing the sport he loves, it did make him feel different.

"I want to be as tall as these kids."

At first, Spencer's parents thought their son was just small. But over time, they began to worry that something was wrong.

When springtime came around and baseball season started, Spencer tried on his old cleats – a type of sports shoe. They still easily fit on his feet.

That is when his mom called the doctor.

"It really set in one year coming out of winter into spring when he got out his cleats for spring baseball and he put them on, and they fit. And they never should have fit. Those were from the spring prior."

Spencer's parents went to see Dr. Bert Bachrach. He is the chief of pediatric endocrinology at University of Missouri Health Care. After much measuring and testing, Dr. Bachrach found the cause of Spencer’s growth failure: a growth hormone¹ deficiency. In other words, Spencer’s body was not making enough growth hormone.

Hormones² are chemicals in the body. They send messages from one cell to another. Growth hormones are necessary for physical growth in children. The levels of growth hormone rise throughout childhood. The levels are highest during puberty.

This hormone helps to control many functions in the body. Dr. Bachrach explains.

"Growth hormone just doesn't affect your growth, it affects your muscle mass and fat distribution. So that affects your cholesterol³. It also affects your overall sense of well-being⁴."

Growth hormone deficiency is a disorder⁵ involving the pituitary gland⁶. The pituitary gland is small – about the size of a pea. It is located at the base of the brain. This gland produces many hormones, not just the growth hormone.

Several things can affect the pituitary gland’s ability to produce growth hormones.

Growth hormone deficiency is mainly the result of damage to the pituitary gland, or hypothalamus, while the fetus⁷ is growing in the mother’s womb. It can also happen as a result of a genetic⁹ mutation¹⁰.

And in some cases, children who severely¹¹ lack emotional and social experiences do not produce enough growth hormone and stop growing. These children often start growing again when they begin receiving the care and human interaction they need.

In Spencer’s case, he needed daily hormone injections. His mother has been giving him the injection every day for the past two years. In that time, Spencer has grown about 15 centimeters.

But just in case he does not grow as tall as he would like, he has a reminder¹² to himself written into each of his baseball hats.

"It says HDMH -- which means ‘height doesn't measure heart’."

When used this way, “heart” means bravery, determination and emotional strength -- all things that Spencer is not in short supply of.

And that’s the Health & Lifestyle report. I’m Anna Matteo.

Words in This Story

prior – adj. existing earlier in time

endocrinology – n. a branch of medicine concerned with the structure, function, and disorders¹³ of the endocrine glands¹⁴

deficiency – n. a lack of something that is needed : the state of not having enough of something necessary

puberty – n. the period of life when a person's sexual organs mature and he or she becomes able to have children

distribution – n. the act of giving or delivering something to people

pea – n. a small, round, green seed that is eaten as a vegetable and that is formed in a seed case (called a pod) of a climbing plant; also : a plant that produces peas

mutation – n. a change in a gene⁸ or the resulting new trait it produces in an individual

womb – n. uterus

1 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

2 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

3 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
• They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。

4 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

5 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

6 gland   

n.腺体，(机)密封压盖，填料盖

参考例句：

• This is a snake's poison gland.这就是蛇的毒腺。
• Her mother has an underactive adrenal gland.她的母亲肾上腺机能不全。

7 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

8 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

9 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

10 mutation   

n.变化，变异，转变

参考例句：

• People who have this mutation need less sleep than others.有这种突变的人需要的睡眠比其他人少。
• So far the discussion has centered entirely around mutation in the strict sense.到目前为止，严格来讲，讨论完全集中于围绕突变问题上。

11 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

12 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

13 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 glands   

n.腺( gland的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a snake's poison glands 蛇的毒腺
• the sebaceous glands in the skin 皮脂腺