: 9-boy began to grow rapidly after a course of injections
Born with dwarfism, 9-year-old Sam Short began to grow twice as fast after taking the experimental drug Vosoritide.
Previously, Sam had such short legs that he could not ride even the smallest bike. Now he does it with ease. Also, Sam can now swim much faster than before.
For the past year, he has received Vosoritid injections every day and this year Sam has grown by 6 cm. This is twice the increase in height in the previous year.
Sam lives in Fulham, west London, and at birth he was diagnosed with achondroplasia - as is now called congenital dwarfism. This condition is caused by a mutation in one of the genes and such people usually have a normal torso and head, but very short arms and legs.
Sam is now 110 cm tall and is still undergoing treatment. The boy's mother is delighted with the results.
Sam also quickly mastered hockey and cricket, and recently took part in a triathlon sports competition for disabled children - he swam 200 meters, cycled 3 km and ran 1.2 km. He took one of the prizes and received 4 thousand pounds.
Promotional video:
Vosoritide (codenamed BMN-111) is manufactured by the American company BioMarin Pharmaceutical and has been in the second phase of clinical trials since 2015. The drug has very mild side effects and is well tolerated by children.
Overall, Vosoritide promises to be a real breakthrough drug for the treatment of dwarfism. However, doctors faced an unexpected protest in the form of some dwarfs and parents of children with dwarfism. In their opinion, treating dwarfism is the same as treating gays, because dwarfism is not a disease.