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Dwarfism

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Dwarfism

"Dwarfism is short stature that results from a genetic or medical condition. Dwarfism is generally defined as an adult height of four feet ten inches or less. The average adult height among people with dwarfism is four feet."

Dwarfism is generally divided into two broad categories: Disproportionate Dwarfism (DD), some body parts are small and other larger, and Proportionate Dwarfism (PD), all parts of the body are smaller than an average person's but are proportionate. Most people with dwarfism have DD which means they have an average sized trunk and very short limbs, but some people have a very short trunk and shortened but larger limbs. The head may also be overly large compared to the body.

A person born with PD may not be diagnosed until early childhood when the body starts to show below the third percentile on pediatric growth charts. PD causes the head, trunk, and limbs to grow slowly and not completely develop into an average size adult.

"Most dwarfism related conditions are genetic disorders but the causes of some disorders are unknown. Most occurrences of dwarfism result from a random genetic mutation in the father's sperm or the mother's egg rather than being in either parent's genetic makeup."

When a person with DD has an average size trunk shorter upper arms and legs, short arms and legs with noticeably shorter upper arms and legs, limited mobility at the elbows, extra-large head with large forehead and flattened nose bridge, bowed legs, lordosis, and an adult height on average of four feet tall, they usually have the disorder achondroplasia.

A person with signs of a very short trunk, neck, arms and legs, average hands and feet, flattened cheekbones, coxa vara, clubfoot, kyphosis, lordosis, eye and auditory disorders and an average adult size of three feet to just over four feet may suffer from SEDC or spondyloepiphyseal

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