Bare-Bones Fact — Children Are Not Small Adults

Author:
  • LBLaura K. Bachrach
    Laura K. Bachrach
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Abstract
Diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines used for children are commonly extrapolated from studies conducted in adults. There are potential dangers in assuming that children will have the same response to disease or therapy as adults, given important physiological differences. For example, it is reasonable to question whether glucocorticoid excess will have the same skeletal effects in adults as in a growing child. Glucocorticoids are thought to threaten bone health through a number of mechanisms.1 They reduce bone formation by inhibiting the number and function of bone-building osteoblasts. Glucocorticoids also contribute to bone loss by stimulating calciuresis and impairing the intestinal absorption . . .