Word: dwarfism
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...Dwarfism...
...Although your article on our dwarfism clinic [May 7] brought the problems of little people to the attention of the public, it was misleading to indicate that our clinic was "the only facility in the world devoted exclusively to the treatment and study of dwarfism." Indeed, there are a number of excellent endocrinology and genetics clinics throughout the world concerned with various forms of short stature...
Short Supply. The dwarf clinic, now marking its second anniversary, is the creation of Dr. David Rimoin, a U.C.L.A. geneticist and one of the world's leading authorities on dwarfism. Rimoin believes that the condition (which occurs once in every 10,000 births in the U.S.) is almost universally misunderstood, largely because so few doctors have taken the trouble to learn about it. Says he: "To most doctors, all dwarfs look alike...
Most doctors might see only one dwarf professionally during their careers; Rimoin's clinic, located at Los Angeles' Harbor General Hospital and staffed by ten physicians, sees 500 a year. Rimoin and his colleagues can now identify at least 50 types of dwarfism, and have determined the causes of many of these abnormalities. Midgets, who are tiny but normally proportioned, are usually victims of an underactive pituitary gland, a pea-sized organ at the base of the brain that is largely responsible for the secretion of growth hormone (HGH). Other dwarfs, who tend to have normal-sized heads...
Heaven Sent. The Los Angeles clinic also deals with many of the other problems connected with dwarfism. Some dwarfs have severe spinal defects that can lead to paralysis if not promptly treated. Others suffer from deteriorating vision and a wide variety of orthopedic problems that most doctors cannot correctly diagnose or treat. Mrs. Estrella Sberna of Los Angeles took her daughter Mary Lou, 12, to dozens of different doctors for problems ranging from a cleft palate to flat feet. But it was only at the clinic that Mary Lou began to receive proper treatment after doctors diagnosed her condition...