Growth Hormone Use in Childhood and Adult Cardiovascular Disease

To the Editor As highlighted by Grimberg, the article by Tidblad et al has similar limitations to prior reports showing associations between childhood growth hormone (GH) exposure and untoward health events in adulthood. Critical limitations include the failure to account for short stature and inadequate information on height by sex and other hormonal deficiencies. Thyroid hormones, cortisol, sex steroids, and many medications commonly used in conjunction with GH that may have had an effect on the encountered findings were not considered. Additionally, a stronger comparator using health status comparisons with control participants when recombinant GH was not available could have accounted for these deficiencies and supported the conclusions.