At the age of 11, Lionel Messi was diagnosed with a rare disease, called Growth Hormone Disorder (GHD). This condition that doesn’t the body to grow as it should according to age. However, the Argentina legend fought the condition gracefully and came back strong as one of the ‘GOAT’ of football (Greatest of All Time).
Coming from a football-loving family, Lionel Messi always had a natural interest in playing football. He used to play at a local club, where he would often show his skills. However, something that hold him back was his growing problem. Messi was the shortest one among all the other players who were of his age. Medical check-ups then unraveled that Messi had a growth hormone deficiency (GHD) — a rare health condition that is caused when there are insufficient amounts of growth hormone available in the body, leading to impaired growth and development.
What Is Growth Hormone Disorder?
Growth Hormone Disorder (GHD), also known as dwarfism or pituitary dwarfism is a rare condition that is caused by a decrease in the production of the growth hormone in the hormone. Children with this condition usually suffer symptoms such as short stature.
GHD can be a condition that can be both genetic (congenital) or developed later (acquired). Lionel Messi was diagnosed with this condition when his parents noticed that his height was not increasing compared to his friends when he was 11. Here’s a story on how he overcame the condition and owned the title of a football Champion.
How Did Messi Fight The Condition?
At the age of 12, Messi had to inject growth hormones into his leg every night. However, the cost of the treatment was too high, and his family was struggling to continue to afford the hormone injections. At this time, FC Barcelona came to Messi’s rescue and the 13-year-old boy was offered a spot in their team and sponsored his medical expenses.
Later when he turned 17, his career started taking shape and he slowly started becoming a star performer for his team until today.
