I have a patient who has ask me if I would treat her 10 yr old son with acupuncture every now and then while he is having growth hormone treatment starting in Feb 2010. From what she says her son has had various tests and that has shown he has all correct chromosomes but is short in growth hormones. Both sets of parents come from short familes so to me it sounds as though its genetic. The son is not being bullied but is self concious of the fact he is short.
My feeling on the matter are
1) I get the feeling its the parents that are pushing the son to have this hormonal treatment which could be on going for 4 yrs with injections everyday.
2) The son hasnt gone through puberty yet and may well shoot up anyway
3) I am not sure i agree with what they are doing but i have no experience in this field and would not want acupuncture blamed for anyside effects or failures .
Does anyone have experience of growth hormone injections for kids, does it work ? Does anyone have any advice or web sites I can give her before they say yes. Has anyone had any results just using acupuncture alone ? I am just not sure from a TCM point of view its ethical ??
