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American Morning

Paging Dr. Gupta: Growth Hormone for Children

Aired June 12, 2003 - 08:42   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Talking about kids and health now. There's a growth hormone for children who are unusually short but otherwise healthy. It's a step closer to approval by government regulators.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is at CNN Center with details.

Sanjay, good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Yes, this is a very important story, Daryn. People have been talking about growth hormone for adults for quite some time. But now, it may be one step closer to actually approving it for children. As you mention, an advisory panel to the FDA has recommended expanding the use of growth hormone for children who are of short stature, not tall, but otherwise healthy.

Let's take a look at some of the numbers. If growth hormone were actually to be given, this has been studied the average improvement, the average improvement, or average increase in height, I should say, 1 to 1.5 inches more than placebo group; 62 percent of the people, these are all children, again, two inches or more than expected, 31 percent four inches or more than expected. And just a quick refresher, Daryn, people have talked so much about growth hormone in adults again, in children again; it's produced by the pituitary grand. That is a grand that's at the base of the brain. This particular grand produces all kinds of hormones. For a long time it was believed that children who were of unusually short stature may not have enough of this growth hormone. When this growth hormone is released, it actually has an effect on the muscles, on the skeletons, making children both bigger and stronger.

This is going to be a very hot issue. It's going to be an ethical issue, a medical issue, but the process has started -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Want to talk about cost. First of all, costs in terms of dollars, and does insurance cover it? And cost in terms of side effects.

GUPTA: Well, it's not approved yet. So no one knows for sure whether where the insurance companies will cover it. Probably not. That's the word we're hearing is that the insurance companies probably won't cover it. And it is very expensive. We're talking thousands of dollars a year. Maybe $10,000 to $20,000 a year. And the process, if a child was to undergo this sort of treatment would be about three to five years of these sorts of shots with three to six injections a week. So you can sort of do the math there. But it's a lot of money over time, maybe up to $100,000 even in a child's lifetime. The shots would stop when a child, boy or girl, had reached his or her full height. But again, lots of cost potentially there.

And, Daryn, the other cost, very important to mention, as well, this is not a drug that's completely without side effects. There are some side effects for parents and children to be aware of. Minor ones in some cases, joint and muscle pain, headaches, nausea, ear infections. They can be a little bit more profound in some other cases where kids may have problems regulating their insulin, they may develop problems with their thyroid gland. And all this in children who are otherwise healthy. So they're not having these problems to start with.

KAGAN: Right, and I also wonder, how do you define short? You can be talking about a kid who's getting teased, or there's dad out there, who's thinking, oh, my son's not quite going to be the NFL quarterback.

GUPTA: That's right. It's an important point. The company that actually is making this, Eli Lilly, the company that's recommending an expansion of the use of growth hormone has some guidelines. For men, less than 5'3" inches tall, for women 4'11". Again, this is projected height, based on growth curves and things like that. Again, the medication would be given before children ever reach their full height. But that's what they would be expected to achieve without the growth hormone. Those are the limits that they're sort of setting. It's a bit arbitrary. And in the United States, those two height measures sort of make up the second to third percentile. In different countries, obviously, it would be a much different sort of situation. But here in the United States, that's the numbers we're looking at, Daryn.

KAGAN: Some tough choices for parents out there.

Sanjay, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired June 12, 2003 - 08:42   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Talking about kids and health now. There's a growth hormone for children who are unusually short but otherwise healthy. It's a step closer to approval by government regulators.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is at CNN Center with details.

Sanjay, good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Yes, this is a very important story, Daryn. People have been talking about growth hormone for adults for quite some time. But now, it may be one step closer to actually approving it for children. As you mention, an advisory panel to the FDA has recommended expanding the use of growth hormone for children who are of short stature, not tall, but otherwise healthy.

Let's take a look at some of the numbers. If growth hormone were actually to be given, this has been studied the average improvement, the average improvement, or average increase in height, I should say, 1 to 1.5 inches more than placebo group; 62 percent of the people, these are all children, again, two inches or more than expected, 31 percent four inches or more than expected. And just a quick refresher, Daryn, people have talked so much about growth hormone in adults again, in children again; it's produced by the pituitary grand. That is a grand that's at the base of the brain. This particular grand produces all kinds of hormones. For a long time it was believed that children who were of unusually short stature may not have enough of this growth hormone. When this growth hormone is released, it actually has an effect on the muscles, on the skeletons, making children both bigger and stronger.

This is going to be a very hot issue. It's going to be an ethical issue, a medical issue, but the process has started -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Want to talk about cost. First of all, costs in terms of dollars, and does insurance cover it? And cost in terms of side effects.

GUPTA: Well, it's not approved yet. So no one knows for sure whether where the insurance companies will cover it. Probably not. That's the word we're hearing is that the insurance companies probably won't cover it. And it is very expensive. We're talking thousands of dollars a year. Maybe $10,000 to $20,000 a year. And the process, if a child was to undergo this sort of treatment would be about three to five years of these sorts of shots with three to six injections a week. So you can sort of do the math there. But it's a lot of money over time, maybe up to $100,000 even in a child's lifetime. The shots would stop when a child, boy or girl, had reached his or her full height. But again, lots of cost potentially there.

And, Daryn, the other cost, very important to mention, as well, this is not a drug that's completely without side effects. There are some side effects for parents and children to be aware of. Minor ones in some cases, joint and muscle pain, headaches, nausea, ear infections. They can be a little bit more profound in some other cases where kids may have problems regulating their insulin, they may develop problems with their thyroid gland. And all this in children who are otherwise healthy. So they're not having these problems to start with.

KAGAN: Right, and I also wonder, how do you define short? You can be talking about a kid who's getting teased, or there's dad out there, who's thinking, oh, my son's not quite going to be the NFL quarterback.

GUPTA: That's right. It's an important point. The company that actually is making this, Eli Lilly, the company that's recommending an expansion of the use of growth hormone has some guidelines. For men, less than 5'3" inches tall, for women 4'11". Again, this is projected height, based on growth curves and things like that. Again, the medication would be given before children ever reach their full height. But that's what they would be expected to achieve without the growth hormone. Those are the limits that they're sort of setting. It's a bit arbitrary. And in the United States, those two height measures sort of make up the second to third percentile. In different countries, obviously, it would be a much different sort of situation. But here in the United States, that's the numbers we're looking at, Daryn.

KAGAN: Some tough choices for parents out there.

Sanjay, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com