Health: A Chance to Be Taller

Growth hormone provides hope -- and the potential for abuse

"A lot of kids used to say, 'Ha, ha, shut up, shrimp,' " recalls Jonas Devlin. The Stratford, Conn., eighth-grader is not disabled or deformed; he is merely very short. At 13, he is 4 ft. 7 in., or 6 in. shorter than 97% of the kids his age. But Jonas has high hopes: since he began therapy with human growth hormone three years ago, he has started to grow at a normal pace. The height gap between him and his peers is no longer widening, and it may eventually shrink. Jonas already notices the difference: "Now, because I'm growing faster,...

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