Growth and its variants

Abstract

Growth of the body (somatic growth) and of the individual skeletal elements is a phenomenally complex process. Huge advances have been made in recent years in the understanding of how the classical endocrine pathways, neural mechanisms, and local growth factors interrelate, but there are still large gaps in our knowledge. Skeletal growth determines body proportions and height and therefore has been the subject of intense investigation. It must be remembered that the mechanisms influencing overall growth also control the growth of individual organs, nerves, vessels, and muscles, but this discussion will concentrate on somatic growth and skeletal development. © Springer-Verlag London Limited 2010.