Genetic variant that stunts growth may have health benefits, researchers suggest<\/p>\n
By Robert Preidt
\nWednesday, February 16, 2011
\nWEDNESDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) — A genetic mutation that causes a type of dwarfism may also protect against cancer and diabetes, a new study finds.<\/p>\n
The finding suggests it may be possible to use drugs or other methods to achieve similar protection in normal-height adults, said study authors Valter Longo, a University of Southern California cell biologist, and Ecuadorian endocrinologist Jaime Guevara-Aguirre.<\/p>\n
Their research included people in a remote community on the slopes of the Andes mountains. Many members of the community have Laron syndrome, a deficiency in a gene that prevents that body from using growth hormone.
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\nFor 22 years, the researchers followed about 100 people with Laron syndrome and 1,600 of their normal-stature relatives. During that time, no one with Laron syndrome developed diabetes and only one person got cancer, while 5 percent of their relatives were diagnosed with diabetes and 17 percent with cancer.<\/p>\n
The study appears in the Feb. 17 issue of Science Translational Medicine.<\/p>\n
“The growth hormone receptor-deficient people don’t get two of the major diseases of aging. They also have a very low incidence of stroke, but the number of deaths from stroke was too small to determine whether it’s significant,” Longo said in a university news release.<\/p>\n
There are already drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that block growth hormone activity. Currently, those drugs are used to treat acromegaly, a condition related to gigantism.<\/p>\n
Other research has found that caloric restriction and fasting also reduce growth hormone activity, according to the news release, although going without food and nutrients carries risks.<\/p>\n
Overall lifespan was the same for both groups, but those with Laron syndrome died more often from substance abuse and accidents.<\/p>\n
“Although all the growth hormone deficient subjects we met appear to be relatively happy and normal and are known to have normal cognitive function, there are a lot of strange causes of death, including many that are alcohol-related,” Longo said.<\/p>\n
SOURCES: University of Southern California, news release, Feb. 16, 2011
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