What happens to children’s growth when the hypothalamus isn’t functioning right?

The hypothalamus is a little known but fascinating and vital part of the human body. Dr Helen Spoudeas has spent over 20 years providing endocrine care in renowned UK children’s clinics, including the famous Great Ormond Street Hospital. This has involved working with a range of hypothalamic dysfunctions.

Learn from Dr Spoudeas about what the hypothalamus is and why it’s critically important. She also highlights how hypothalamic dysfunction has the potential to affect many aspects of children’s lives.

What is the hypothalamus?

The hypothalamus is the most primitive organ in our body. This is because, in essence, it controls life itself. It’s a small area of our brains that is located in the mid-brain, right under the thalamus and right behind the eyes. This means that it is very deep-seated and very difficult to see with scans, making it complex to fully understand.

Nature has protected it: it’s very hard wired and very difficult to disrupt.  It’s also very dangerous to intercept because when things go wrong, the outcome can be devastating: the consequences of unbalanced hormones can take many forms. As we can’t measure the hypothalamus, it tends to get forgotten. The importance of the hypothalamus has only really become clear as we treat children with brain tumours or maldevelopment in this area. 

What does the hypothalamus do?

The hypothalamus controls vital regulatory functions that we often take for granted. It regulates the body’s endocrine system by sending hormones to the pituitary gland. The endocrine system is a variety of glands that secrete hormones all over the body so that we can perform a large range of vital functions:

• Temperature control
• Memory
• Sex drive in adults
• Our ability to regulate sleep and being awake
• Our “fight or flight” response
• Childbirth and breastfeeding
• Our ability to control our appetite
• Our ability to manage emotions
• Regulating blood pressure

It’s a tight messaging system. Think of it like the body’s post office:

1. The hypothalamus sends hormones (messages) to the pituitary (the messenger)
2. Then, the pituitary passes the message on to the rest of the body’s glands (the recipients of the messages).
3. These glands send the hormones (messages) around the body and expect a message back.
4. When the glands receive a message back, they forward the message back to the hypothalamus. The cycle continues.

This cycle keeps the hormones balanced, resulting in a fully functioning body.

What are the signs and symptoms of hypothalamic dysfunction?

Children with hypothalamic dysfunction may experience one or more of a wide range of symptoms. As the hypothalamus controls so many aspects of living, the array of can be vastly different from each other:

• Unexplainable laughing or crying
• Seizures
• Sleep disorders
• Behavioural problems
• Precocious puberty (when a child’s body begins puberty too soon)
• Severe early childhood obesity or weight loss
• Cachexia (a disorder that causes extreme weight loss and muscle wasting)
• Diabetes insipidus, which causes an excessive drive to drink water and excessively urinate

Sometimes, children with hypothalamic dysfunction get what we call dancing eye syndrome (also called opsoclonus), which is when the eyes make unusual and uncontrollable eye movements.

Is childhood obesity often caused by hypothalamic dysfunction?

Hormone dysfunction is one thing, but childhood obesity is another. It’s rare that a child’s obesity is caused by hormones. For a detailed explanation, see my other article “Diet, hormones, genes and the risks of childhood obesity”.

How serious is hypothalamic dysfunction?

The level of seriousness depends on what’s causing the dysfunction and how severe the hormone disruption is. It’s very variable e.g. from minimal problems to devastating consequences.

In my article “Understanding hypopituitarism’s effect on your child’s health”, I explain more about the hypothalamus and how a lack of one or more hormones (hypopituitarism) is treated to restore children’s quality of life.

Are you concerned about your child’s hormonal development and growth? Learn how Dr Spoudeas can help you care for your child’s health - visit her profile.