Precocious Puberty: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Precocious puberty is the term for the early onset of an adult body's transformation from a child's. This change in development is known as puberty. After the ages of eight for girls and nine for boys, puberty usually sets in. Nonetheless, children of Native American, African American, and Hispanic heritage may inherently enter puberty earlier. Precocious puberty is defined as the onset of puberty too early for the youngster experiencing it.

During puberty, muscles and bones grow quickly. The shape and size of bodies vary. And the body begins to develop the ability to reproduce.

The cause of premature puberty is often unknown. Rarely, some diseases such as infections, hormone imbalances, tumors, brain injuries, or accidents can cause early puberty. The use of medication to delay puberty is a common treatment for premature puberty.

Causes Of Precocious Puberty

Understanding the stages of puberty is helpful in understanding why some children experience early puberty. The pituitary gland, a small, bean-shaped organ near the base of the brain, receives this hormone and produces more testosterone in the testicles and more estrogen in the ovaries. Oestrogen is the maker of feminine sex traits. Testosterone creates manly sex attributes.

There are two types of premature puberty: centrally precocious and peripherally precocious.

Centrally Precocious Puberty

Often, there is no recognised cause for this type of early puberty.

An early onset of puberty that progresses normally is a characteristic of central precocious puberty. It is unknown what causes the early puberty in most youngsters with this disorder—a medical condition or some other element.

Rarely, central precocious puberty can be caused by the following conditions:

• A tumor in the brain or spinal cord.
• A brain abnormality present from birth. This could be a hydrocephalus accumulation or a non-cancerous growth known as a hamartoma.
• Brain or spinal cord damage by radiation.
• Harm to the brain or spinal cord.
• A rare genetic disorder affecting hormones, bones, and skin tone. This condition is known as McCune-Albright syndrome.
• A group of inherited conditions known as congenital adrenal hyperplasia cause the adrenal gland to produce abnormal hormones.

Peripheral precocious puberty

This kind of premature puberty is brought on by the overproduction of estrogen or testosterone.

This kind of early puberty is not caused by the brain hormone called growth hormone (GnRH), which normally initiates puberty. Rather, the source is the body's release of either testosterone or estrogen. Hormone release results from issues with the pituitary, adrenal glands, ovaries, or testicles.

Peripheral precocious puberty may result from the following:

• A tumor that releases estrogen or testosterone from the pituitary or adrenal glands.
• An uncommon genetic condition that affects skin tone, bones, and hormones. We refer to this illness as McCune-Albright syndrome.
• Being in contact with lotions or creams containing testosterone or estrogen.

Peripheral early puberty in girls may also be related to:

• Ovarian cysts
• Tumors of the ovary

Another factor that may contribute to peripheral precocious puberty in boys is:

• A growth within the sperm or testosterone-producing cells.
• An uncommon hereditary disorder is known as gonadotropin-independent familial sexual precocity. Boys who experience this may produce testosterone too early, typically between the ages of one and four.

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Symptoms Of Precocious Puberty

Premature puberty symptoms include:

• First menstruation and breast development in girls
• Enlargement of the penis and testicles, facial hair, and deeper voice in boys
• Pubic or underarm hair
• Rapid growth
• Acne
• Adult body odor

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Risk Factors Of Precocious Puberty

Precocious puberty is more common in the following situations:

• Being a woman. Girls are more likely than boys to enter puberty early.
• Have an issue with weight. Overweight individuals are more likely to experience early puberty.

Diagnosis Of Precocious Puberty

An early puberty diagnosis comprises:

• Reviewing the family's and the child's medical records.
• Conducting an analysis
• Checking the hormone levels in the blood.
• When diagnosing precocious puberty in youngsters, diagnostic X-rays of the hands and wrists are helpful. These X-rays can show if the bone growth is growing too quickly or not.
• Determining the kind of early puberty
• Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) stimulation testing is performed to identify the kind of precocious puberty.

As part of the test, the youngster will initially receive an injection of the hormone GnRH and a blood sample. Subsequent blood samples obtained over time show the hormonal reactions of the child's body.

The GnRH hormone causes other hormone levels to rise in children experiencing central precocious puberty. In children experiencing peripheral precocious puberty, other hormone levels do not alter.

Brain MRIs are one of the additional diagnostic tools for central precocious puberty. With this imaging test, it is possible to ascertain whether adolescents with central precocious puberty have brain abnormalities that lead to the early onset of puberty.

Examining the Thyroid

This test can identify hypothyroidism, or insufficient thyroid hormone production, in the thyroid gland. This test may be administered to kids who show symptoms of hypothyroidism, such as lethargy, sensitivity to the cold, falling behind in their studies, or pale, dry skin.

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Treatment Of Precocious Puberty

The primary goal of treatment is to raise children to adult height.

The treatment plan is determined by the cause of early puberty. Nevertheless, if the cause cannot be found, treatment might not be necessary depending on the child's age and the rate at which puberty is progressing. Or you could decide to take care of the child for several months.

Addressing the problem of central early puberty

This usually means taking GnRH analogue therapy, which is a drug that prevents further progress. Medications, such as leuprolide acetate (Lupron Depot) or triptorelin (Trelstar, Trip To Door Kit), may be injected once a month. Alternatively, newer formulas might be used more regularly.

This drug is given to kids on a constant basis until they hit the normal puberty age. When the treatment is stopped, puberty begins.

An additional treatment option for central precocious puberty is a histrelin implant, which has a maximum one-year lifetime. This treatment does not require monthly shots. However, a minor bit of surgery is required to place the implant beneath the skin of the upper arm. After a year, the implant is removed. If necessary, the old implant is replaced with a new one.

Taking care of an underlying medical condition

If a medical problem is the cause of early puberty, treating it is the only way to stop precocious puberty. For example, when a cancer secretes hormones that cause early puberty, puberty frequently ends when the tumor is removed.

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Prevention Of Precocious Puberty

There are several risk factors for precocious puberty that cannot be avoided, like race and sex. Still, a few things can lessen a child's chance of going through early puberty, like:

• Giving young children anything that contains estrogen or testosterone is not advised. These could be dietary supplements or prescription drugs for adults.
• It's important to encourage kids to maintain a healthy weight.

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Complications Of Precocious Puberty

Premature puberty may have the following negative effects:

• Small stature: Precocious puberty can make a child taller overall and cause them to develop more quickly than is typical for their age at first. But their bones are growing too fast. Little children often cease growing earlier than expected as a result. This could explain why they are shorter than average as adults.
• Social and emotional problems: Children who experience puberty far sooner than other children of their age may find the physical changes. For instance, handling the early stages can be upsetting. This may result in a decrease in self-worth and a higher chance of depression, alcohol or illicit substance abuse, or both.

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