- SHANGHAI - Many parents in
Shanghai are taking their children to doctors to get them hormone injections
to delay puberty, as experts say changes in dietary habits have led some
children to mature even before they turn eight.
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- Alarmed by the trend, experts have urged parents to seek
proper medical help for their children and try to avoid using growth- inhibiting
hormones, especially one called GnRH, for fear of negative side-effects,
the Xinwen Wanbao reported.
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- GnRH, or gonadotropin-releasing hormone, is a drug that
works by altering the number of GnRH receptors produced by the pituitary
gland located beneath the brain, which are known to regulate reproduction.
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- GnRH injections do not come cheap, with some doctors
charging more than 2,000 yuan (S$450) per jab.
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- According to the Xinwen Wanbao, the Shanghai Childrens'
Medical Studies Centre alone has so far seen more than 60 parents opting
for GnRH as the treatment for their children.
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- It quoted an endocrinologist, Dr Shen Yongnian, as saying
that sexual precocity cases make up nearly half of the 300 to 400 patients
who visit the centre every month.
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- 'Parents who can afford want their children to be injected
with GnRH,' Dr Shen said.
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- 'However, as all drugs have side-effects, they should
use conventional cures wherever possible,' he added.
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- The drug, imported from Japan or France, has to be administered
once every month until a child reaches the normal age of sexual puberty.
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- http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,1870,104815,00.html?
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