Growth hormone therapy in Canada: end of one era and beginning of another.

This paper reviews the difficulties in diagnosing a true deficiency of growth hormone (GH), the long-term results of therapy, the Canadian experience in treating GH deficiency, including the contributions made by the Medical Research Council''s Therapeutic Trial of Human Growth Hormone, and the occurrence of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in recipients of GH therapy. It also speculates on potential alternatives to treatment with GH derived from human pituitaries.