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What is IGF-1 Testing? Does this test indicate the cause of the baby’s short stature? Can such a test be performed on a child? Do you have to repeat the test every year? How much does IGF-1 testing cost? The question is answered by the drug. Katarzyna Darecka.
What is IGF-1 Testing?
Hello. I am the mother of 2-year-old Zuzia. My daughter was born healthy, but I noticed that she is slightly shorter than the children of her age (about 80 cm). I know she still has time to grow up, although I think she should be a bit taller. I do not know what exactly this could be the result of. Neither me nor my husband are tall (we are both about 163 cm tall, and my husband is slightly taller).
Recently I read that there is such IGF-1 testwhich supposedly can pinpoint the cause short stature in a child. However, I do not know what it is and whether my daughter should take part in it. I would like more information about the IGF-1 test and its course. Is it one-off or do you have to do it every year? I do not hide that the financial aspect is also important to me, i.e. badania scene IGF-1 – my husband works part-time and I have a pension. Is there a special way to prepare for the procedure?
Besides, my Zuzia is terribly afraid of needles. Therefore, I would be interested if the examination is painful. Thank you for your help. Kind regards.
The doctor explains what the IGF-1 test is about
The doctor evaluates the child’s height and weight on the basis of percentile grids, and this is a method objectively assessing the physical development of children. On the basis of the chart in which we take into account the child’s age and weight or height, various oblique lines are visible – they show the so-called percentiles, and the norm for height or weight for a child is between the 97th and 3rd percentile. At exactly 24 months of age according to WHO percentile grids for girls aged 0-5, your daughter is 80 centimeters, which means that she is just below the 3rd percentile, if she were 81 centimeters she would be in the 3rd percentile. Pediatric endocrinologists find height deficiency <3rd percentile.
Among the causes of short stature, the most common cause are genetic factors, i.e. if the parents are short, the child is also and will be short. However, the child is healthy, there are no diagnosed diseases and no treatment is required. It can also be a slow growth rate, chromosomal disorders (e.g. Down’s syndrome, Turner syndrome), hypopituitarism and insufficient growth hormone production, or diseases of other systems, e.g. skeletal, metabolic, chronic diseases impairing nutritional status.
If the child is healthy and in good general condition, the most likely cause of your daughter’s short stature is genetic factors and family short stature, especially if you say that you and your husband are both short.
The doctor may order an IGF-1 test, which indirectly indicates growth deficiency, but in addition to performing this test, a GH test should also be performed – these tests will indicate direct and indirect secretion of growth hormone and pituitary gland efficiency.
In suspecting a short stature, the doctor must also take other causes of short stature and perform a number of other tests, so doing IGF-1 alone on your own does not make sense. If you are concerned about your daughter’s short stature, it is best to go to the pediatrician, who will decide whether you should undergo short stature diagnostics or whether it is physiological growth, taking into account the growth rate and short stature of the parents.
– Lek. Katarzyna Darecka
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