Growth hormone (GH) deficiency (GHD) in adulthood has been associated with changes in body composition (e.g. increased abdominal obesity, and reduced muscle mass), in organ functions (e.g. reduced cardiac systolic function), in metabolic parameters linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease (e.g. increased serum total and LDL cholesterol, C reactive protein, and plasma fibrinogen), and with reduced bone density. These observations have been used to define the "adult GHD syndrome" and to advocate GH replacement therapy in GHD adults. However, most of the studies have been performed in patients who have had hypothalamic or pituitary diseases, and/or have undergone brain irradiation. Such patients are often chronically sick, and commonly lack other pituitary hormones, whose replacement therapies may not fully restore the physiological functions of the under-active glands. Reliable data on the existence of the AGHD syndrome and its response to GH therapy can be only obtained by studying patients that are otherwise healthy. However, isolated GH deficiency (IGHD) is a rare disease. In addition, up to 50% of patients who have been diagnosed with IGHD in childhood are no longer GH deficient as adults, making such study difficult to perform due to the scarcity of patients population. We have identified a very large homogeneous population of patients who have IGHD due to a homozygous mutation in the GHRH-receptor (GHRHR) gene that resides in a rural area of Brazil. None of the adult dwarf patients has ever been treated with hGH replacement. This population represents a unique model to study the effect of isolated lifetime lack of GH. We propose studies of physiological and metabolic parameters in subjects who are homozygous for this mutation and compare them with normal subjects residing in the same community.