What is Dwarfism?
Dwarfism is a medical disorder in which a person remains short throughout their entire life. People below 147 cm, according to a protagonism group in America known as little people of America (LPA), indicate to this status as dwarfs. This does not apply to everyone else in the population because height of people varies with respect to gender and race.
Causes of Dwarfism:
Hereditary factors cause dwarfism in the main, although there are other unknown causes. Common types of dwarfism include Achrondoplasia. In this condition, the person is born of parents of average height although one of the parents has one mutated copy of the gene and one normal gene. Long limbs, large head, characterize Achrondoplasia and lack of muscle hence categorized under disproportionate dwarfism. Seventy percent of all dwarfism cases are disproportionate.
Once a diagnosed, there is no absolute “treatment” for almost all conditions which bring about short stature. Metabolic or hormonal problems can be treated with the use of special diets or hormone injections which spark the growth of a child, but skeletal dysplasia cannot be “cured.”
Secondly, there is Turner Syndrome, caused by deletion or a complete alteration of the X-chromosome in either the sperm or egg. A normal female would inherit two x chromosomes, one from the father, and another from the mother. Other cases of this condition have no known cause. Another common type of dwarfism is dwastrophic dysplasia. Children with this condition have cleft palates, shortened limbs, ear deformity, clubfeet, joint stiffness and reduced muscles. It is a less common type of dwarfism with only one out of 100,000 people suffering from it.
Joint replacement surgery can assist in the improvement of mobility for those who have dwarfism. There are times when people who have achondroplasia choose to go for experimental surgical procedures which prolong the legs and arms. This involves a bone being cut off. A scaffold is then inserted between the segments of the bones. This allows growth of a new bone to fill in the gaps. This limb-lengthening surgery is not among the common treatments; it is controversial, painful and requires repeated surgeries. It can bring forth complications such as damage to the nerves.
Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia is common, even though rare. It is a genetic disorder, caused when the bone growth is, disturbed thus resulting in short structure. Features of these conditions include short trunk, short neck, abnormal limbs, and clubfeet. Likewise, there is a condition known as primordial dwarfism. This is atypical but harsh form of dwarfism. In this case, the human being is born small from birth and the condition is very tricky to identify.
Problems of dwarfs:
It is worth noting that dwarfism is not an academic harm and a little person has the same IQ level as that of a normal size individual. Nevertheless, there are certain health complications that linked with a child born with dwarfism. Deficiency of muscle, medically referred to as hypotonia, is a universal stipulation seen in most people affected with dwarfism. Additional medical complications encompass delaying motor skills, breathing troubles, sore joints and backside, arthritis, recurrent ear infection, crowding of teeth and weight disorders.
References
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/dwarfism.aspx
http://www.humanillnesses.com/original/Conj-Dys/Dwarfism.html
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