It is no small matter for children to take medicine. Whether the medicine is safe and whether there are any side effects is what every parent is most concerned about. Is growth hormone safe? What precautions do parents need to pay special attention to? Clinical experts have something to say.
Professor and Master Supervisor, Department of Pediatric Care, West China Second Hospital of Sichuan University, Director of Short Stature Research Center, West China Second Hospital of Sichuan University, Wu Kangmin
Q: Based on your clinical experience, the use of growth hormone is it safe? Which one is more secure?
A: Growth hormone has been in clinical use for more than 30 years. As national-level regulatory agencies for drugs, both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) have approved growth hormone. It is used to treat short stature in children, so it is very safe to use under the guidance of a professional doctor. It can be said that the growth hormone products that have been put on the market are all trustworthy. If there are safety risks, the relevant departments will never approve them for sale. But at the same time, parents should also know that growth hormone is a prescription drug and must be diagnosed by a clinician before use.
Although the drugs are safe, because growth hormone requires long-term injections, and many parents have no experience in medical care, there are many safety risks during the operation. First of all, parents must follow the guidance of medical staff in daily injection operations and choose syringes suitable for children. In addition, because children's height and weight change rapidly, the dosage needs to be adjusted frequently, and one medicine often needs to be used multiple times. To reduce the risk of infection, it is recommended to choose growth hormone containing added antibacterial ingredients. Secondly, growth hormone, as a protein drug, has high temperature requirements. High temperature will not only affect the quality of the drug, but also the efficacy and safety. Most growth hormone drugs currently used clinically require storage at 2-8°C. Some manufacturers have even implemented full temperature-controlled cold chain transportation. Of course, some manufacturers have introduced the concept of normal temperature storage. But I want to remind parents here, because many people may not know the definition of normal temperature at all, which is 20 to 25°C. For example, in some areas of southern my country, the temperature exceeds normal temperature for more than 200 days a year, so temperature control must not be ignored to avoid affecting the quality of the medicine and delaying the treatment of children.
From this point of view, it is very safe to use growth hormone drugs to treat short stature in children, but parents need to pay attention to the following aspects in daily operations.