What is Dwarfism, Proportional Dwarfism?

I am writing these articles from my own perspective and research I have done. I am not a medical expert. At times this series may be humorous and at times frustrating and sad. This is all part of the road we are traveling. I do hope that somehow I can open people's eyes and minds about "little people". *Please read all of my articles in this series for a full understanding of why I am writing the way I am.

There are approximately 200 medical conditions that can cause dwarfism; most of these are genetic mutations. Dwarfism is basically described as an adult height or full grown height of 4' 10" or less. There are two main categories of dwarfism, disproportionate and proportionate.

Disproportionate Dwarfism:

The most common type of disproportionate dwarfism is Achondroplasia. Approximately 80% of dwarfism cases fall under this category. Achondroplasia is characterized by an average size trunk, short limbs and a large head. Legs tend to be bowed causing a waddle type of walk. The average height with this form of dwarfism is 4" tall. This type of dwarfism is a dominant trait giving a 50% chance of passing the gene.

Diastrophic Dysplasia is one of the most disabling forms of dwarfism. It is characterized by spinal deformity, hand deformities, clubfoot and hip and knee dislocations. The average height with this form of dwarfism is 3" 10". This is a recessive condition with a 25% chance of passing the gene.

Primordial Dwarfism is a rare form of dwarfism resulting in an extremely small size. It is very debilitating and in some variations persons with this condition will not reach the size of a newborn until the age of 3 to 5 years. Misdiagnosis is frequent as it may be seen as a lack of nutrition or metabolic disorder. This type is not caused by lack of growth hormone.

Hypochondroplasia has similarities to Achondroplasia with shorter arms, fingers and legs but average head size. This term is used for the tallest of dwarfism cases with heights ranging from 4' 1" to almost 5'. This type of dwarfism is sometimes overlooked because the "shortness of stature" may be very mild.

Proportionate Dwarfism:

In proportional dwarfism all parts of the body are proportional but "abnormally" short. Causes of this can be from a problem with the pituitary gland or a growth hormone deficiency. When caused by pituitary or growth hormone deficiency the condition may be treatable if it is caught early enough and the patient chooses. *

Proportionate dwarfism is also referred to as "short stature", generally in the smallest 3% of the population. People with proportionate dwarfism have also been referred to as "midgets". This is not considered to be an acceptable term as it brings to mind circus "midgets".

Turners Syndrome also can cause a proportional shortness of stature. This occurs only in girls as it is on the X chromosome. It is most characterized as a lack of maturation. Women with Turner's syndrome are almost always infertile and have lack of breast development and absence of menstrual cycle. This should be noted as it is the start of menstruation, especially early menstruation, that signals that growth will usually be slowing adolescent females.*

The most important thing to note is that dwarfism in itself in no way effects intelligence level and most people with dwarfism will have normal life spans.

I have read that when two "average size" parents have a child with dwarfism it is usually caused by spontaneous mutation and it would be rare to have a second child that would also be short of stature. Both of my daughters are proportional dwarfs, non-Turner's syndrome, hence my research continues.

Some sources:

University of Delaware,

Little People of America,

Kidsheath.org,

Wikipedia