Page 7 - John Collinge News Today

Disease was passed on to children given growth hormones in 1980s

The practice of injecting children with growth hormone extracted from the brains of deceased people was abandoned long ago – with good reason.

Five people who were treated as children with cadaver-derived human growth hormone (c-hGH) developed symptoms of dementia when they were aged between 36 and 55, new research suggests.

Five people are believed to have developed symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, despite being aged just 38 to 55, after receiving treatment with a tainted human growth hormone.

Five Alzheimer's cases were tied to a growth hormone treatment that was once used for various causes of short stature but is no longer used.

A small study suggests that "seeds" of Alzheimers can be transferred from one person to another via certain medical procedures, leading to the disease later in life.

The findings may have important implications for understanding and treating the disease, researchers say.

The findings may have important implications for understanding and treating the disease, researchers say.

The findings may have important implications for understanding and treating the disease, researchers say.

Childhood treatment with contaminated human growth hormone may cause the disease years later | Science & technology