Irvine : Research Examines ‘Catch-Up Growth’

A UC Irvine professor’s research into human growth gives little hope that hormone treatment can make people taller.

But the research of Dr. David Mosier, chief of pediatric endocrinology at UCI, documents the phenomenon of “catch-up growth” in people and in animals whose normal growth has been stunted in early life.

Mosier discussed his research at a recent symposium on the physiology of growth at England’s Oxford University.

According to Mosier, the phenomenon of growth acceleration in animals and human children after recovery from illness or starvation long has been recognized by biologists and medical specialists. In such cases, abnormally short bodies have growth spurts to compensate for lack of development.

Mosier’s research focused on locating the “set point” for appropriate body size within humans, which he said may lie in the narrow midline zone of the brain. He said that his research found that each individual’s “set point” for size appears to be the dominant factor in how that individual grows.