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6 Ellul 5766 - August 30, 2006 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Home and Family

Your Medical Questions Answered!
by Joseph B. Leibman, MD

Director, Emergency Services, Bikur Cholim Hospital

Are you short? Many of our gedolim were not tall. The Chofetz Chaim and Reb Moshe Feinstein were just over five feet tall. This is proof that for our community, height is not a determinant of greatness. But still, that is sometimes no consolation for short people.

Height for the most part is genetic, although nutritional factors play a role. This is why the previous generation in Europe did not grow tall. On average women are shorter than men.

Shortness can be the result of medical problems. The most common cause is lack of growth hormone, a hormone secreted by the pituitary, which is located in the brain. Other causes include factors which occur before birth such as poor maternal nutrition, or use of alcohol or smoking during pregnancy. The first cause is the most common cause of dwarfism, or midgets.

What should your proper height be? Clearly, someone with short parents who is much taller than they must be investigated for diseases such as Marfan's syndrome, a disease that causes tall people with blood vessel and eye problems.

A person's height should be close to the following. Take the heights of both parents. Add them together and then divide by two. This is the average height of both parents. For boys add 6.5 cm which is 2.5 inches and for girls subtract the same.

The interesting thing is that giving growth hormone can increase height 3 to 6 cm even in children who have no true growth hormone deficiency. The problem is that old preparations were taken from animal brains and there was a danger of the spread of brain viruses. This is no longer a problem as the hormone is now made in the laboratory using recombinant DNA technology but it is very expensive. It is, however, safe.

Let me make some things clear. Stretching exercises will not affect height. The gender hormones fuse the bones. The safest way is to avoid this, and build up your child's confidence. The source for this article was the 15 June edition of this year's New England Journal of Medicine.

Asthma. I recommend steroids by inhalation, and they take time to work. Take inhalations of Ventolin on an as-needed basis only. I believe in machines that freshen the air, as dog hair, mites and other microscopic materials can be inhaled and can cause attacks. Write me in care of the Yated.

 

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