Teenagers can now grow faster with Increlex from Tercica

Teenage years are difficult times since growth patterns vary widely during that period. As teenagers find it difficult to grasp the simple fact that not everyone grows at the same pace or in similar fashion, they often go through depression. It is very common for both boys and girls to compare their bodies against one another. Therefore, loss of self esteem during those years is a major challenge.

A recent study by Alison Field of Harvard Medical School shows that nearly a third of adolescent and pre-adolescent boys and girls want to change their body image. Teens are increasingly turning to supplements to enhance their appearance and the users appear to be heavily influenced by the media. The most commonly used products were protein powders and shakes. Others, used predominantly by boys, included creatine, amino acids, the amino-acid metabolite HMB, the hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), growth hormone (GH), and anabolic steroids.

Now there may be another option for teens suffering from short stature. Tercica, a biotech company, has been granted permission by the FDA to sell Increlex - a drug that provides long-term treatment of growth failure in children with severe primary IGF-1 deficiency (Primary IGFD) or with GH gene deletion who have developed neutralizing antibodies to growth hormone.

Children with severe Primary IGFD have height and serum IGF-1 levels that are more than three standard deviations below normal. They are not growth hormone deficient, and, because they are resistant to the effects of growth hormone, they cannot be expected to respond adequately to growth hormone therapy. In both children and adults, severe Primary IGFD can lead to a range of other metabolic disorders including lipid abnormalities, decreased bone density, obesity, and insulin resistance.

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