I. Normal development process
Under normal circumstances, girls puberty begins at the age of 8.5-13, 85% of the breasts are the first to develop. Breast development is manifested by the enlargement of the breast centered on the nipple, nodules are felt below the nipple, which can grow first on one side and later on the other, or both sides can grow at the same time, and both sides can be different in size; the areola (the darker colored area around the nipple) also expands; the child feels pain or painful to touch, but the skin is not red or swollen. Within 6 months of breast development, pubic hair begins to grow. Axillary hair begins to grow within two years of the appearance of pubic hair. Usually, menstruation appears within 2 years of breast development and up to 6 years.
Puberty begins in boys between 9.5 and 13.5 years of age. 98% of testes are the first to grow, and testicular length of 3 cm or more is often the earliest indication of the onset of puberty. Pubic hair grows within 6 months thereafter, the penis grows within 12 to 18 months, axillary hair and beard begin to grow about 2 years after the appearance of pubic hair, and the first ejaculation usually occurs around 14 years of age. During or after the rapid growth of height, the voice starts to become lower.
Second, the manifestations and causes of precocious puberty
According to the causes and manifestations of precocious puberty, it is usually divided into central, peripheral and partial precocious puberty.
1. Central precocious puberty, also known as true precocious puberty, is caused by early secretion of gonadotropin by the pituitary gland. More girls than boys. In girls, 80%-90% of precocious puberty has no specific cause, a few are caused by intracranial diseases, such as brain tumors, inflammation, malformations, etc., while in boys, more than half are caused by diseases.
The developmental process of true precocious puberty is basically the same as that of normal sexual development. In girls, the first symptoms are breast development, followed by pubic hair, menstruation and armpit hair, and irregular menstruation and no ovulation at first. In boys, the initial symptoms are enlargement of penis and testicles, later there may be erection of penis, pubic hair, acne, thickening of voice, and seminal emission.
2. Peripheral precocious puberty, also known as pseudoprecocious puberty, is not related to the pituitary gland and is usually caused by gonadal disease (ovarian tumors or cysts, testicular tumors), adrenal disease (adrenal cortical hyperplasia, adrenal tumors) or exogenous sex hormones such as taking sex hormones (estrogen, androgens). Since the ovaries do not ovulate, the testes do not produce sperm and therefore do not fertilize pregnancy.
3.Partial precocious puberty Only pubic hair, axillary hair or early breast development, no other secondary sex characteristics appear, called simple premature development of breasts, simple premature development of pubic hair, etc..
Simple premature breast development is mostly seen in female infants and young children, manifested as both sides of the breast enlargement, nipple does not increase, more in two years to subside, normal development is not affected.
Simple precocious pubic hair development can occur in both sexes, and most of them appear around the age of 6 years, and can be accompanied by axillary hair, but no other secondary sex characteristics appear.
Some children with partial precocious puberty may turn into true precocious puberty, which should be observed.
Some boys have different degrees of breast enlargement during puberty, which may have temporary pressure pain or self-conscious pain that will subside on its own after a few months, but rarely lasts more than 2 years.
Three, the hazards of precocious sexual development
During the process of sexual development, the growth of height and weight is accelerated, so children with precocious puberty are often taller than children of the same age, but due to early epiphyseal closure, growth ends early, and the final height is short.
Precocious puberty brings problems to the care of the affected children and also causes psychological pressure to the affected children and their families.
Prevention and treatment of precocious puberty
In recent years, the number of children with precocious puberty has increased, and the age also tends to be small. It is not uncommon to see babies with breast development in a few months and toddlers with menstruation in a year or so. According to the survey, it is related to the following factors.
1, too much meat food In recent years, the material life of the general public has improved significantly, some families lack scientific awareness of feeding, thinking that meat food is good nutrition, so that children are mainly meat food, rarely eat vegetarian food, too much meat food to accelerate the growth of children, the development of early, in order to promote growth, some animal feed added estrogen, so some animal food contains estrogen, thus promoting the development of secondary sex characteristics.
2.Environmental pollution Some decomposition products and additives of detergents, pesticides and plastics have estrogenic activity, and children’s intake of water and food contaminated by these substances can promote the development of secondary sex characteristics.
3, blind supplements Some families like to give children to eat supplements, health products, some supplements, health products contain sex hormones.
4, premature sexual culture of psychological stimulation TV, video, newspapers, magazines, etc. in the sexual content of children’s psychological stimulation is also one of the causes of premature sexual maturity.
5, misuse of contraceptive pills Contraceptive pills are sweet, and some parents do not manage them well, and they are taken by children as small sugar to eat.
Children should take a diversified and balanced diet and should not take supplements; parents should care about children’s psychology and early education, guide children’s learning and recreational activities so that children’s body and mind can develop healthily; if there are contraceptive pills at home, they should be kept properly.
As the sexual development of girls is usually the first to grow breasts, it is easier to find, while boys are the first to develop testicles, which is easy to be ignored and should be cared for. Once a child is found to have precocious puberty, he or she should go to the hospital in time for examination.
The treatment of precocious puberty currently has two methods, one is to eat Chinese medicine, usually with a large Yin pill and Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan, for early breast development can be effective, especially partial early breast development; if the breast nucleus is relatively large, the effect of bone age ahead of time is not good. The other method is to take injections, that is, with gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues such as treprostin, leuprolide, etc., the effect is good, but the price is more expensive