Turner Syndrome: Treatments and Preventive Measures

Affecting young girls the world over, Turner Syndrome is a condition that mostly manifests itself in short height, which becomes obvious by the time a girl reaches the age of 5. Many of them can also suffer from losing their ovarian function where their eggs die prematurely, and unless they receive hormone therapy, these girls are unable to undergo puberty. This, in turn, leads to their inability to conceive. However, there have been exceptions where girls suffering from Turner Syndrome grew up to give birth to perfectly healthy children.

Girls are always born with XX chromosomes in them, but those suffering from Turner Syndrome have only one X chromosome. Depending on how the girls' cells are affected by this absence of chromosome, the effect of the Syndrome can be varied.

Treatment For Turner Syndrome

Preventive Measures and treatments are a must in these cases. Here is a look at the most common ways of treating Turner Syndrome -

Oestrogen Replacement Therapy

Oestrogen is the hormone present in girls which leads to their sexual development, while also being important in preventing a condition of brittle bones called osteoporosis. For girls suffering from Turner Syndrome, the ovaries are unable to function properly, thus producing low amounts of oestrogen.

One should visit an endocrinologist to help them guide through the process of oestrogen replacement. This is started during the beginning of the end of a girl's normal puberty period. Today, the average age is 11 for the start of puberty, but since beginning the therapy too early may hinder the girl's actual growth, this therapy is recommended between the ages of 12 and 15. In most cases, when these girls grow up to be women, they still require this hormonal treatment up until they experience menopause because that is when the body stops producing oestrogen.

Growth Hormone Therapy

Such therapy is given right around the time it becomes apparent that there is some deterrent in the girl's growth of height. This usually happens around the age of 5, which is the time when the therapy should begin. Needless to say, in cases when the slow growth of a girl is detected at later stages of life, the therapy also starts late. In both cases, the therapy continues well into the teenage years, until the girl turns 16 years of age.

Psychological Therapy

Suffering from Turner's Syndrome can be traumatic for young girls who may end up suffering from depression or low self-esteem. It can be either as a result of short height or the inability to conceive, but in both the cases it's their inability to cope up with their condition as well as an inability to respond to people's behaviour which leads to their psychological trauma. Most problems are faced at either the office, school or at home via relatives. In such cases, therapies like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy are recommended.