Cancer drug Tamoxifen may help short boys be taller

[TheCrownedOne]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051208/hl_nm/cancer_taller_dc

By David Douglas Thu Dec 8, 2:22 PM ET


NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -

The drug tamoxifen, usually used to treat or prevent breast cancer, may help short boys attain a normal adult height, researchers report.

Final body height is determined when the skeleton reaches maturity, and tamoxifen decreases the rate of skeletal maturation, according to study findings reported in the medical journal Pediatrics.

"Our results suggest that tamoxifen may improve height potential in pubertal boys with short stature," lead investigator Dr. Nerissa C. Kreher told Reuters Health.

Kreher and colleagues at Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis note that tamoxifen use has resulted in a significant decrease in skeletal maturation in girls with certain conditions affecting their growth. However, there have been no reports on whether it works in short boys.

To investigate, the researchers reviewed the medical charts of seven boys with an average age of about 15 years. Six were being treated with growth hormone. In addition, they had been given tamoxifen twice daily for an average of about 2 years.

The rate of skeletal maturation was calculated by dividing the change in bone age by the change in chronological age. Bone age, as seen on X-rays, was measured independently by endocrinologists unaware of the subjects' age or treatment.

The researchers found that tamoxifen "significantly decreased the rate of skeletal maturation and increased the predicted adult height."
However, added Kreher, "controlled, prospective studies are needed to verify these findings."

SOURCE: Pediatrics, December 2005.

 

[Pioneer]

"significant decrease"

wow, good find.

 

[McBurly]

very interesting
I wonder if it was just tamox or the gh and tomax combo that did the trick

 

[bioman]

I can just imagine how wretched my acne would have been at age 15 on Nolva..but I could be taller, lol.

 

[MGH1982]

Very nice find, makes sense though because it does help prevent ostoperosis (sp?)... excellent find

 

[OmarJackson]

hmmm..... my brother just turned 18 and he's only 5'7'', maybe i should sneak a couple of cc's here and there into his hawaian punch...

 

[hamper19]

man the things i wish they had when i was younger...26yo and 5'7" ish....if i could have hit 5'9" it would have been awesome......good news for my future kids though!

 

[wastedwhiteboy2]

I'm 6' and I'm the short one in my family. wish I could have had a boost. sorry guys I bet you did not want to hear that.

 

[Xel]

Dose?!

 

[size]

Makes me sad.

 

[TheCrownedOne]

Sorry Size, I just wanted to contribute

 

[PastorofMuppets]

AFAIK this is due to the fact that estrogen causes growth plates to close. Hence the reason why the kiddies should not mess with gear, the rise in estrogen can cause premature closure.

 

[wastedwhiteboy2]

I'm interested in hearing more about this study.

 

[E-Swift25]

I've read studies where arimidex has been used to help short kids. arimidex + hgh = more height if your growth plates haven't closed.

 

[64bit]

Yeah, basically Estrogen is needed in the body to finalize the growth of the skeleton, so if you lower the amount of Estrogen to abnormally low levels for a sustained period of time, then theoretically this will delay the closing of your growth plates and allow the individual to continue to grow later into adulthood than normal.

There are examples of guys who have a genetic defect where they do not have estrogen receptors and they basically continue to grow their entire life because their growth plates never close. Their bones end up long and weak and they have a host of other problems and usually die at a young age. But many times they can grow to 7'- 8' tall. They all look like Shawn Bradley. Not good at all.