Teens with Cystic Fibrosis may benefit from Growth Hormone treatment.

Treating young cystic fibrosis patients with growth hormone prompts a significant increase in the patients lean body mass, Swiss researchers report.

Treating young cystic fibrosis patients with growth hormone prompts a significant increase in the patients lean body mass, Swiss researchers report.Treating young cystic fibrosis patients with growth hormone prompts a significant increase in lean body mass, Swiss researchers report. Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder that leads to progressive lung disease and malnutrition As Dr. Andreas Schibler told Reuters Health, “cystic fibrosis patients may get into a vicious circle of decreased respiratory function, malnutrition, muscle weakness and loss of energy.” Growth hormone has been shown to not only increase height in short children but also to improve body composition in people with diseases such as cancer or HIV infection. Growth hormone treatment for people with cystic fibrosis may “help them to regain energy to improve their respiratory function,” Schibler explained As the researcher, who is currently at Mater Children’s Hospital in South Brisbane, Australia, noted: “Growth hormone has become an important (and abused) drug to enhance endurance and exercise capacity in athletics, so it is tempting to investigate this effect in patients with lean body mass deficiency.” To do so, Schibler and colleagues at the University of Bern, randomly assigned 20 cystic fibrosis patients an average of 15 years old to treatment or control groups. Patients in the treatment group received daily subcutaneous injection of growth hormone over the course of a year. As reported in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, the treatment did not improve weight or lung function, but lean body mass increased significantly. Furthermore, exercise capacity rose “moderately.” The researchers call for larger studies to confirm these results. In particular, they have to figure out whether the very high cost of treatment justifies the results. (Source: Archives of Disease in Childhood, Reuters Health, Dec 2003)