Choose the correct answer from each of the four options given below:
Gigantism and Acromegaly are due to:
Topic: Growth hormone disorders
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Pick an option and check your answer. The full worked answer is below either way.
Answer
(d) Hypersecretion of Growth hormone.
Both are caused by HYPERSECRETION (too much) of GROWTH HORMONE from the anterior pituitary. The difference between them is the AGE at which it happens: GIGANTISM — excess in CHILDHOOD, before the long bones stop growing lengthwise. The person becomes abnormally tall. ACROMEGALY — excess in ADULTHOOD, after the long bones have closed. Height cannot increase, so instead the hands, feet, jaw and facial bones THICKEN and enlarge.
The opposite condition, HYPOsecretion in childhood, causes DWARFISM — option (b), placed here to test whether you read hyper or hypo.
THE PATTERN worth carrying: the same hormonal fault produces different disorders at different ages. Thyroxine deficiency behaves the same way — CRETINISM in children, MYXOEDEMA in adults.
Hypersecretion of Growth hormone.