Various Causes of Children Experiencing Early Puberty • Hello Sehat
The transition from childhood to adolescence or known as puberty is characterized by physical and mental changes in the child. Although growth is a good thing for children, too early or early puberty is not normal. Early puberty may be a sign of health problems that your child is experiencing and can have an impact on your child’s health.
What is precocious puberty?
Puberty occurs at various ages. In girls, puberty begins around the age of 8-13 years, while in boys at the age of 9-14 years. Puberty begins with brain activity that triggers the reproductive glands to produce sex hormones and causes physical changes. A child is said to have had precocious puberty or precocious puberty if he experiences the features of early puberty before entering puberty. This is an abnormal growth that can affect the physical and mental growth of the child in the future.
Early puberty is known to have two distinct types of development, namely:
- Central precocious puberty – is a common type of precocious puberty characterized by the secretion of gonadal hormones by the pituitary gland in the brain that is too fast, which triggers the activity of the testes and ovaries to produce sex hormones and causes the puberty process to occur earlier.
- Peripheral precocious puberty – is a rare type of precocious puberty. It is characterized by the production of sex hormones by the reproductive organs but without the activity of the brain glands. This is a sign of problems with your reproductive organs, adrenal glands, or an underactive thyroid gland.
What are the signs of early puberty?
The most important thing in the process of early puberty is the development of the reproductive organs of children that occur before puberty. However, it remains difficult to diagnose precisely because there are other signs of physical changes that mimic precocious puberty. Physical changes such as earlier breast development (premature thelarche) and hair growth on the surface of the armpit or pubis (premature pubarche) is not a significant sign that a child is experiencing premature puberty.
The main characteristics of puberty in women can be recognized by the presence of the first menstrual cycle, whereas in men the physical conditions that appear are usually changes in the size of the penis and testicles, and the appearance of fine hair around the face.
What causes children to experience premature puberty?
The cause of precocious puberty in a person will be difficult to determine, but can be distinguished based on the type of development in central or peripheral precocious puberty.
Central causes of precocious puberty
Central precocious puberty involves the role of the brain as a trigger for the reproductive organs to produce sexual hormones. This can be caused by various disorders of the central nervous system and triggers early puberty. Some of these disorders include:
- Tumors of the brain or spinal cord.
- Congenital brain defects such as hydrocephalusor non-cancerous tumors.
- Effects of radiation exposure on the brain or spine.
- Injury to the brain or spine.
- McCune-Albright syndrome – a genetic disorder that affects the color of bones and skin and triggers hormonal disorders.
- Congenital adrenal hyperplasia – genetic disorders that cause disruption of hormone production from the adrenal glands.
- Hypothyroid disorders – a condition caused by the thyroid gland not producing enough hormones.
Causes of peripheral precocious puberty
In peripheral precocious puberty that does not involve the central nervous system, hormonal disorders and reproductive organs are the main causes. Some of the possible causes of peripheral precocious puberty are:
- Tumors of the adrenal glands.
- McCune-Albright syndrome.
- Exposure to the hormones estrogen or testosterone from drugs
- Cysts and tumors on the ovaries of girls
- The presence of tumors in cells from sperm-producing organs or the male hormone testosterone.
- Genetic mutations in the gonad glands of baby boys that cause testosterone production to begin at the age of 1-4 years.
What factors can increase a child’s risk of experiencing premature puberty?
There are several risk factors that cause children to experience premature puberty:
- Girls are more at risk of developing precocious puberty.
- The condition of obesity triggers girls to have enough fat cells for puberty even though they are too early to experience puberty.
- Take drugs that contain sex hormones.
- Complications of various adrenal and thyroid hormone disorders caused by genetic factors.
- Damage or infection caused by surgery or radiation therapy.
What is the impact on children if they experience premature puberty?
The body’s unpreparedness for puberty can cause growth imbalances in children, as a result of which their physical and mental growth is not optimal. The physical impact of early puberty is that the body tends to grow short. A child who experiences precocious puberty may experience rapid height gain at first, but as an adult he is below the normal height for individuals his age. Early treatment is needed to overcome the development of height in children experiencing early puberty.
Early puberty will also make it difficult for children to adapt emotionally and socially. Confidence problems or feeling confused are most often experienced by girls who experience premature puberty because of their physical changes. In addition, changes in behavior can occur in boys and girls as a result of mood changes, and tend to get angry more quickly. Boys can tend to be aggressive and have sex drives that are not age appropriate.
Various possible serious illnesses are the cause of your child to experience premature puberty, the impact of development on children can still be felt when the child grows up. Therefore, as early as possible treatment is needed to deal with the effects of early puberty in children. If you find various signs of precocious puberty in your child, immediately consult a doctor for further diagnosis and treatment.
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