Norditropin® products
About GHD
Some questions you
might have
Glossary
Prescribing Information
Instructions for Use
Important Safety Information
Information for U.S. Health Care Professionals
    

Glossary

Bones

The hard parts inside our bodies that hold the body up and let us move around. The bones of our bodies make up our skeletons. When our bones grow, especially the ones in our legs and spine, we get taller.

Catch-up growth

Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) causes growth that is slower than usual. When GHD is treated with human growth hormone (hGH) therapy, the body starts to grow faster and there is "catch-up" growth. In other words, the body's growth tries to catch up to try to reach the limit of what is considered normal for that age. The age at which a person starts growth hormone therapy is very important, because the potential for catch-up growth may decrease as the child or teenager becomes older. The goal of treatment is to have catch-up growth allow the child or teenager reach their full potential adult height—the height the child would have reached if he or she did not have GHD.

Deficiency

Having too little of something, usually something important. Children or teens who have a deficiency of human growth hormone (hGH) might not grow as fast and strong as children or teens who do not have a growth hormone deficiency (GHD).

Full growth potential

Everyone has a different full growth potential, the maximum (greatest) height a person can grow. A person's full growth potential depends on many things, including the height of your mother, father, and other family members.

Glands

Special parts in our bodies that make hormones. These hormones act like chemical messengers taking messages from one part of our body to another. The pituitary (pi-TOO-i-tair-ee) gland sends growth hormone to the bones. This makes us grow. There are many other types of glands and other types of hormones in our bodies too.

Growth hormone deficiency (GHD)

GHD means a person's body doesn't make enough growth hormone by itself. It is one of the main causes of poor growth in children. GHD may be present at birth or at any time during infancy or childhood. It is usually the result of the pituitary gland failing to produce enough growth hormone. Fortunately, growth hormone treatment does exist in the form of a commercially produced, biosynthetic hormone replacement therapy, such as Norditropin®. Biosynthetic growth hormone treatment is 100% identical to the natural growth hormone made by the body and has been safely manufactured using biotechnical methods since 1986.

Growth Hormone Stimulation Test

Growth Hormone Stimulation Test is a test to help diagnose growth hormone deficiency (GHD). Growth Hormone Stimulation Testing is important because the levels of growth hormone in a person's blood change. Most of the time, the level of growth hormone is so low it is hard to measure, even in people who do not have GHD. There are several types of Growth Hormone Stimulation Tests—some are able to measure the level of growth hormone when it is at the highest level. This type of testing involves physical exercise like running, or testing while sleeping, because both exercise and sleep cause an increase in growth hormone. Other tests use oral or injected medications to "trick" the pituitary into producing the maximum amount of growth hormone it can. Most children, teens, or adults who do not have GHD will have a growth hormone level over 10. Then, after 30 to 60 minutes the growth hormone level drops back down to a low level. Children or teens with GHD may not show any rise in growth hormone level or just a low increase during the Growth Hormone Stimulation Test.

Growth hormone therapy

Daily injections of growth hormone that can help people who have growth hormone deficiency (GHD) grow faster and reach their full growth potential.

Human growth hormone (hGH)

A hormone is a special chemical made by our glands that can carry messages from one part of our bodies to another. Our bodies have many different types of hormones. hGH is the growth hormone made by the pituitary gland. It is a special chemical messenger that the pituitary gland sends to the bones when the brain tells it to. When growth hormone gets to the bones, it causes us to grow.

Hypopituitarism

Hypopituitarism (pronounced high-po-pi-TOO-i-tar-ism) is when the pituitary does not make enough of several different types of hormones, not just growth hormone. Some of these other hormones include thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). Children who have hypopituitarism are usually normal in size at birth and have relatively normal growth when they are infants. But then, during childhood, growth slows down a lot.

Injection

This is the same as a shot. Children who have growth hormone deficiency (GHD) and are on growth hormone therapy take daily injections of growth hormone just underneath their skin.

Insulin-like growth factor IGF-I

IGF-I is another growth-promoting hormone that acts as a team with growth hormone to signal the body to grow.

Pituitary

A very small and very important gland in our bodies. About the size of a pea, it is just below the brain and just behind the top of the nose. When the brain tells it to, the pituitary gland sends growth hormone to our bones and causes us to grow.


Indications and Usage

Norditropin® (somatropin [rDNA origin] injection) is used to treat: children who have growth failure because of low or no growth hormone; children who are short (in stature) and who have Noonan syndrome or Turner syndrome; children who are short (in stature) because they were born small (small for gestational age-SGA) and have not caught-up in growth by age 2 to 4 years; and adults who do not make enough growth hormone.

Important Safety Information

Do not use Norditropin® if: you have a critical illness caused by certain types of heart or stomach surgery, trauma or breathing (respiratory) problems; you are a child with Prader-Willi syndrome who is severely obese or has breathing problems including sleep apnea; you have cancer or other tumors; your healthcare provider tells you that you have certain types of eye problems caused by diabetes; you are a child with closed bone growth plates (epiphyses) or you are allergic to any of the ingredients in the medicine.

Before you take Norditropin®, tell your healthcare provider if you: have diabetes; had cancer or any tumor; have any other medical condition; are pregnant or plan to become pregnant; are breast-feeding or plan to breast-feed.

Norditropin® can cause serious side effects, including: high risk of death in people who have critical illnesses because of heart or stomach surgery, trauma or serious breathing (respiratory) problems; high risk of death in children with Prader-Willi syndrome who are severely obese or have breathing problems including sleep apnea; return of tumor or cancerous growths; high blood sugar (hyperglycemia); increase in pressure in the skull (intracranial hypertension); swollen hands and feet due to fluid retention; decrease in thyroid hormone levels; hip and knee pain or a limp in children (slipped capital femoral epiphysis); worsening of pre-existing curvature of the spine (scoliosis); middle ear infection, hearing problems or ear problems in patients with Turner syndrome.

Patients with Noonan syndrome and Turner syndrome should be closely monitored by their doctors as they are more likely to have congenital heart disease.

The most common side effects of Norditropin® include: headaches, muscle pain, joint stiffness, high blood sugar (hyperglycemia), sugar in your urine (glucosuria), swollen hands and feet due to fluid retention, and redness and itching in the area you inject. If you have headaches, eye problems, nausea or vomiting, contact your healthcare provider right away.

Norditropin® may affect how other medicines work, and other medicines may affect how Norditropin® works so be sure to tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.

Especially tell your healthcare provider if you take: glucocorticoid medication, thyroid hormone, insulin or other medicine for diabetes, medicines that are metabolized by the liver (e.g., corticosteroids, sex steroids, anticonvulsants, cyclosporine), or oral estrogen replacement medicine.


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