Achondroplasia

Achondroplasia

There are hundreds of reasons why some children never reach expected height as adults. Many are short in stature because of family or ethnic background. Others have a wide variety of medical conditions, many of them genetic that seriously limit overall growth, or growth of specific parts of the body, such as the limbs or the torso. Some causes of short stature are well understood and can be corrected, but most are subjects of ongoing research. Achondroplasia is one of these genetic disorders.
Achondroplasia is a genetic disorder of bone growth that is evident at birth. It affects about one in every 20,000 births and it occurs in all races and in both sexes. Its depiction in ancient Egyptian art makes it one of the oldest recorded birth defects. The word achondroplasia is derived from the Greek language, and means "without cartilage formation," although individuals with achondroplasia do have cartilage. During fetal development and childhood, cartilage norma...