Dr GaneshImage Credit source: ANI Video grab
Dr. Ganesh Baraiya is a medical officer at Sir Takht Singh Ji Hospital in Bhavnagar, Gujarat. He is not an ordinary doctor, his height is only 3 feet. Although his height may have been short, it did not come in the way of his abilities and he has made his mark as the shortest doctor in the world. From admission in medical college to obtaining MBBS degree, Ganesh proved that everything in life is done with hard work, courage and determination. In this case of Dr. Ganesh, a question also comes to mind from the medical science point of view that why the height of some people remains so short? Is this caused by any disease or is it a congenital problem?
According to media reports, Dr. Ganesh has a medical condition called Dwarfism. Due to this his height remained short. Let us know from experts what is dwarfism and why the height becomes less due to it.
Dr. LH Ghotekar, HOD, Department of Medicine, Lady Hardinge Medical College and Associate Hospitals, in conversation with TV9 It is said that this Dwarfism is related to DNA. This problem occurs due to a malfunction in it. When there are changes in the genes of the parents, it affects the growth plates of the child, due to which the height becomes less and after a time it does not grow at all. Generally, the height of people suffering from dwarfism remains less than 4 feet. In this, after birth the height does not increase as much as it should be for a normal person.
Dwarfism
What are the other reasons for not increasing height?
Dr. Ghotekar explains that if the body does not produce or produces less growth hormone, then the height of the child grows less than normal. Height can also be stunted due to lack of thyroid hormone in childhood. In such cases, treatment may increase the height slightly, but this is not the case with Dwarfism.
Dr. Ghotekar says that those whose height does not increase due to this disorder have some things in common, like the length of the bones becomes limited. Hands and legs are small and the head may appear larger than normal. This problem persists throughout life, but it does not affect a person’s ability to do any work or his mental development. That means only the height remains small, but the person remains physically and mentally healthy like normal people.
Is dwarfism treatable and preventable?
Dr. Ghotekar says that dwarfism occurs due to genetic reasons, so there is no treatment for it. Once this happens, it can never be corrected. Although in some cases, if there is any problem related to walking or joint pain, then orthopedic surgery and physiotherapy is done in such cases, but there is no such treatment available which can normalize the height of these people or even increase it a little if the height has stopped.
Talking about prevention of dwarfism, it can be identified through some types of genetic tests before planning a child, but even if it is detected, it does not mean that it can be prevented.
Awareness about the disease is important
Dr. Mohit Kumar, Senior Resident at Safdarjung Hospital It is said that people need to be aware about this problem. People make fun of people with short height, but Ganesh Baraiya is an example that short height does not affect intelligence. No one is to blame for diseases caused by genetic disorders.