LEADING ARTICLE

Endocrinology

The impact of corticosteroids on growth and bone health

T Mushtaq¹, S F Ahmed²

¹ Dept of Integrative Biology, Roslin Institute, Edinburgh, UK
² Dept of Child Health, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Yorkhill, Glasgow, UK

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr S F Ahmed, Dept of Child Health, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Yorkhill, Glasgow G3 8SJ, UK;
gcl328@clinmed.gla.ac.uk

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An examination of current evidence

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Keywords: corticosteroid; growth; bone

Abbreviations: ALL, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia; DEXA, dual energy x ray absorptiometry; GC, glucocorticoid; GH, growth hormone; JIA, juvenile idiopathic arthritis

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Glucocorticoids (GC) are important regulators of diverse physiological systems and are often used in the treatment of a number of chronic inflammatory, autoimmune, and neoplastic diseases. It is estimated that 10% of children may require some form of GC at some point in their childhood.¹ Impairment of childhood growth with an approximate cortisone dose of 1.5 mg/kg/day was first described over 40 years ago; osteopenia in children receiving a prednisolone dose of less than 0.16 mg/kg/day has also been reported.^2,3 The maintenance of growth and bone health is a complex process that can be influenced not only by drugs, but also by the nutritional status of the patient and the underlying disease process. The purpose of this review is to examine the current evidence for linking GC to adverse growth and bone health in childhood disorders that commonly require GC therapy.

Loss of bone and deterioration in short term . . . [Full text of this article]

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