slowed growth

[Guest Guest_Kimberly]

My daughter has had tics for about two years. Also, my pediatrician is concerned with her growth. She has grown less than 2 inches in 2 years. Our next step may be growth hormones. Any feedback would be great.

Thanks, this forum has been great for me. It's nice to know I am not alone.

Kimberly

[Guest Guest_Jennifer M.]

Kimberly,

 

This may not be helpful. But I have been reading some on pyroluria. There is some info. posted in the links about how to be tested for it. But the reason I responded was I did an aol search just to see what the symptons were and one symptom was stunted physical growth.

 

This is a condition treated by vitamins-I'm sorry I do not know much more than that.

 

Good luck to you,

Jennifer M.

[Guest NancyE]

Hi Kimberly,

 

I really don't know much about this, but one thing that popped into my mind is if she could be having trouble absorbing nutrients properly. Sometimes things like a gluten sensitivity can interfere with proper absorption and growth. Some people with gluten problems have obvious digestive problems and other symptoms and others don't. Is she gaining weight, or is that slow too? Does she have any other physical ailments that could be contributing?

 

For all I know, this could just be a normal stage for her, but if your doctor is concerned perhaps he/she could run some tests and check for nutritional deficiencies. I believe zinc is also important in growth, which may tie into Jennifer's post about pyroluria.

 

Good luck to you.

[Phyl]

Kimberly,

I second NancyE's concern that perhaps your daughter has gluten sensitivity or celiacs and is not absorbing nutrients. You can look at this forum, http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/forumd...splay.php?f=141 which is on the BrainTalk website. There are several parents there who have children who barely grew for years until they went on gluten free diets. When they became gf, they sprouted up. Does your daughter have digestion problems, allergies or any other issues?

Phyl

[Claire]

Kimberly,

 

I absolutely think both paths that Jennifer, Nancy and Phyl have mentioned merit investigating. I have a friend whose son was gluten sensitive--always the shortest kid in the class. After 6 months of gluten-free diet he sprouted 6 inches! I think he was 8 or 9 at the time.

 

Yet another reason they mentioned is pyroluria, which creates a zinc deficiency. Like Nancy, I suspect that has the growth impact, since a zinc deficiency stunts/delays growth.

 

Given that so many of our kids with tic issues have run into other such problems, it is worth investigating. Are you the same poster whose child was sensitive to TV (vocal tics) and whose child reacted to fish oil? (Since you aren't registered, I can't just scan for other posts). If you are, then again, light sensitivity and a bad reaction to fishoil can both be signs of pyroluria. So that $40 at home test is definitely worth trying.

 

I think if you correct the issues early enough, you can correct it. But I sure wouldn't waste time on it.

 

If you don't have a cooperative doctor, then fortunately the www.enterolab.com stool test can be ordered without a doctor's signature. So can the pyroluria test. If either or both are positive, then you can get a doctor to manage treatment--though the gluten 'treatment' is just to avoid gluten. $99 for the gluten test, $99 for the casein (milk protein) test.

 

As for the pyroluria test, Direct Healthcare access 847-222-9546. You can give them your doctor's name for them to send the results to and order the test yourself.

 

Now, your child may have neither one, but since they are so treatable and the tests are non-invasive, I recommend them. My husband and I were both negative for pyroluria, so not everyone comes back positive.

 

Claire

 

edited to add:

 

Zinc Essential for Normal Infant Growth

 

A new study suggests that zinc deficiency may play a large part in causing stunted growth in infants.

 

A team of researchers from Ethiopia and the Netherlands studied 184 infants aged 6 to 12 months in central Ethiopia. All of the children were free of disease and appeared healthy, except for the fact that 90 of them were abnormally small for their age. The 90 stunted infants and the 94 normal-length infants were each divided into two groups. Half the stunted infants and half the normal infants received a 10-milligram zinc supplement 6 days per week for 6 months. The other half of each group received a placebo.

 

Zinc supplementation had a significant impact on the growth rate of stunted infants. Those taking the zinc supplement grew an average of 7 centimeters during the study while those taking the placebo grew just under 3 centimeters. Meanwhile, non-stunted children taking zinc grew by an average of 6.6 centimeters while those taking a placebo grew 5 centimeters, suggesting that they already had enough zinc to achieve normal growth.

 

Zinc also seemed to help the infants gain weight. In the stunted children, body weight increased an average of 80% during the study, while weight gain in the non-stunted children went up just 20%, possibly due to the fact that zinc supplementation significantly cut episodes of anorexia, diarrhea, and vomiting in the stunted infants. As a matter of fact, zinc is so effective in the reduction of diarrhea (25%), that it rivals the World health Organizations estimated reduction in childhood diarrhea (27%) achieved by improvements in water quality and sanitation.

 

Zinc is also an important component in several enzymes, is involved in protein synthesis, gene expression and hormone control.

 

Although zinc was effective in this study, the authors note that it will only be effective in growth-stunted children who are zinc deficient. However, zinc deficiency is difficult to test for and often the only sign of it is when a positive response to zinc supplementation takes place.

 

http://www.mercola.com/2000/jun/17/zinc_growth.htm

[Guest Ronna]

Is your daughter on any medication for her tics?

[Guest Guest_Kimberly]

Thank you to all of the replies. This site has been wonderful for me. We will be taking my child to Pfeiffer next week. This has been a hard two weeks. She has not had any verbal tics since we've started no tv, however, she has started several new tics with her eyes. I do not know if the stress of school has made her worse. I'm hoping our trip to Pfeiffer turns up something. I will let you know how our trip turns out. I know every little piece added to this puzzle will help our kids.

Kimberly