Accompanying symptoms with high growth

The accompanying symptoms are strongly dependent on the cause of the occurrence of high growth. If a person is tall because of his or her dispositions, no other symptoms occur. If the high growth has endocrine (hormonal) causes, then changes can be found in other parts of the body.

Pituitary giantism is characterized by a coarsening of the face, an enlargement of the hands and feet, and a significantly larger skull. In adrenogenital syndrome, girls show a male phenotype (appearance). This means that the hair type is more like that of boys and the clitoris is hypertrophied (enlarged) and looks almost penis-like.

In addition, menstrual disorders are also apparent. Boys with adrenogenital syndrome have an enlarged penis and reduced testicles. In childhood, boys and girls and due to early onset of puberty are above average in size.

In adulthood, on the other hand, they tend to be small, as the growth joints close early. Another dangerous complication is that, in addition to the production of sex hormones, the production of aldosterone (salt absorption in the kidneys) is also disturbed. This can lead to weight loss and vomiting.

Chromosomal aberrations show further abnormalities, depending on where there is a deviation from the normal number. In Klinefelter’s syndrome, boys enter puberty late or not at all, they have a reduced testicle, they develop breasts (gynecomastia) and there is a risk of osteoporosis in adulthood. All these symptoms are caused by the lack of testosterone.

In the XXY and XXX syndrome, children show weaknesses in learning ability, have behavioural problems and a delayed development of motor skills and speech. In Marfan’s syndrome, patients show hyperlaxity of the joints, arachnodactyly (spider fingers), frequent heart valve defects, deformations of the thorax (funnel chest) and spine (scoliosis), increased occurrence of joint dislocations, and dislocations of the lens in the eye. The Sotos syndrome becomes conspicuous within the first four years of life. The children have an enlarged head (macrocephalus) and very specific changes in the face (a high forehead, widely spaced eyes (hypertelorism), a pointed chin, and in long faces with high hairline). They also show signs of mental retardation.From the age of 5 years on, normal growth is usually seen, which is why a low high growth rate is seen in adulthood.