Premature puberty: causes, symptoms, treatment

There is nothing good in situations where the child is significantly behind in development. But premature adulthood can not be considered something natural and normal, since it can cause a lot of unpleasant consequences.

Let's consider this topic in more detail and find out why pathology can arise, what symptoms it accompanies, how it is diagnosed and whether there are effective ways to get rid of the problem. Special attention will be paid to the psychological aspect: the feelings of a child who develops faster than peers.

Sexual maturation and its norms

It starts with the fact that sexual maturation is considered to be a combination of the processes of physiological and hormonal changes in the body, as a result of which a person becomes ready for reproduction (reaches sexual maturity).

In boys, this occurs between 10 and 20 years. Girls also grow up a bit earlier - their puberty falls on the time interval from 8 to 17 years. These are the indicators that are usually considered the norm.

But there are situations in which the premature sexual maturation of the child begins. And in this case it is worthwhile to pay attention to the problem in time and take all the necessary measures.

What is considered to be premature maturation

Premature puberty is a process in which a child grows up to the age of eight in girls or a 10-year-old in boys. Its main feature is the early appearance of secondary sexual characteristics, although the general symptomatology includes many more phenomena. The main ones will be considered a little later.

Classification of anomalies

What kinds of premature puberty can be divided? Classification can depend on many factors.

Based on the reason for the occurrence, it can be:

• True (the appearance is associated with premature activation of the hypothalamus or pituitary gland);
• False (the appearance is associated with excessive secretion of sex hormones by the ovaries or adrenal glands, as well as other factors).

In addition, there is issexual and heterosexual premature puberty.

The isosexual type is inherent in:

• Mental retardation;
• Various pathological reflexes ;
• Emotional instability;
• Cerebral hypertension.

Heterosexual type of anomaly can be triggered by malfunctions in the adrenal glands.

Causes of pathology

It is worth dwelling on the question of why premature puberty begins. The reasons, as a rule, are divided into two groups: central and peripheral.

The central ones are:

• Previously transmitted infectious diseases associated with the brain (meningitis, encephalitis);
• Irradiation, trauma or swelling of the spinal cord or brain;
• Improper production of hormones by the adrenal glands (congenital hyperplasia);
• A disease that provokes hormonal disorders, and also affects the bones and skin pigmentation (McCune-Albright Syndrome) ;
• ischemia;
• Insufficient production of hormones by the thyroid gland (hypothyroidism);
• Presence of congenital pathology of the brain.

Peripheral causes of such a phenomenon as premature puberty in a girl or boy are associated with an excessive release of testosterone and estrogen into the blood. This occurs as a result of violations of the adrenal glands, ovaries or pituitary gland.

Despite the fact that the factors provoking premature puberty, not too little, often doctors can not determine the exact cause of its appearance. The only thing that is known for sure - the anomaly is a hormonal disorder, so it's worth to immediately seek help from specialists.

Common symptoms of the disease

Signs of premature puberty in boys and girls will differ. Common symptoms in children of either sex:

• Acceleration of growth;
• headache;
• Bulimia (gluttony);
• Weight gain;
• Changes in body odor;
• Growth of pubic and axillary hair;
• fast fatiguability.

In addition, the high likelihood of acne in a child is not ruled out.

Symptomatic diseases in girls

Premature puberty in a girl is accompanied by:

• Early development of secondary sexual characteristics;
• The establishment of menstrual function.

Thus, in girls under the age of 10, the first menstruation begins, the mammary glands grow, hair under the armpits and pubic hair appears. At the same time, all the characteristics can be present simultaneously, as well as part of them.

Symptomatic of disease in boys

Premature puberty in boys is accompanied by:

• Early development of secondary sexual characteristics;
• Acceleration of the differentiation of the bones of the skeleton;
• Early stopping the growth process and, as a result, the formation of short stature.

It often happens that the young men before the time increases the size of the testicles and penis, so already in childhood they reach the "adult" size.

Each third boy begins premature hair growth over the lip.

What is the danger of the disease?

The syndrome of premature puberty is a dangerous phenomenon for the body, which brings unpleasant consequences.

In the first place, it can be noted violations of growth. At the beginning of the growing period, children grow very fast and become much higher than their peers. But soon this process stops and in the end they may be lower than their peers.

For girls, pathology is dangerous because of the occurrence of polycystic ovaries and hormonal disorders in the future. This threatens irregular menstruation, an increase in the level of androgen, the appearance of cysts and the inability to freely exit the egg.

Diagnosis of the disease

What kind of doctor should I contact if there is a suspicion that a child can have the pathology of development that we are considering? Similar issues are handled by the children's endocrinologist. During the diagnosis, he will study the medical history, give directions to some tests, and based on their results, he will be able to determine the presence of the problem.

A physiological examination of the child is mandatory. His goal is to identify signs of premature aging: acne, enlargement of mammary glands in girls and penis, and testicles in boys, the appearance of pubic hair and in the armpits, rapid growth, the presence of the first menstruation, and so on.

In addition, an x-ray examination of the wrists and palms of the patient is performed. This process will allow the doctor to determine the age of the bones and get an answer to an important question: do they develop within the limits of the norm or at an accelerated rate?

The above methods allow you to establish a preliminary (initial) diagnosis. Next, it is necessary to specify the disease and to identify the cause of its occurrence. For this, the child is injected with gonadotropin-releasing hormone and blood is taken for tests. In the peripheral type of anomaly levels of follicle-stimulating and luteinizing hormones will be within the normal range of normal. If premature puberty of the central type, the number of the above hormones will be increased. In this case, there is a need for another survey - MRI of the brain. It will identify possible anomalies. Additionally, a thyroid examination is necessary to exclude possible hypothyroidism. In some situations, you may also need ultrasound of the pelvic organs, the purpose of which is to identify tumors or ovarian cysts.

Treatment of premature puberty

The choice of the necessary method of treatment depends primarily on the cause of the disease.

If the occurrence of the problem was triggered by the presence of a tumor, the therapy is sent to eliminate it. In this case, surgical intervention is provided, which will help get rid of the "culprit" of hormonal failure.

In situations where the exact cause of the problem was not identified, the child may be prescribed medication. It can be a gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist, for example, leuprolide, which will help stop the axis of growth of human hypophyric gonadotropin (HGH) and slow down the subsequent development. The drug is injected into the body every month by injection, and treatment continues until the age of normal puberty. At the end of the course of treatment, the development of the child continues according to established norms.

Special attention at this point should be given to the diet. During premature puberty, children usually have a significant increase in appetite, and to be more precise, almost constant hunger. Therefore, it is necessary to limit the number of meals and avoid overeating. Otherwise, another problem will add to the problem - obesity. In addition, it is necessary to avoid products that contain testosterone and estrogen (sex hormones) in their composition , since their level in the body is already significantly increased.

Another important point that parents need to know is the existence of premature maturation, which begins and only occurs in part. For example, a girl can swell a chest, and a boy - a testicle, but soon this process will stop or not be accompanied by other signs of the disease. In this case, no special measures to take is not necessary, because full sexual maturation will begin on time.

Adaptation of the child to the process of premature puberty

It is worth paying special attention not only to the symptoms and methods of treating the disease, but also to the feelings of the child at the time of premature puberty. The fact is that he understands in such a situation that he is significantly different from his peers. First of all, this is due to the early appearance of secondary sexual characteristics.

The current situation can cause emotional trauma, a decrease in self-esteem and even the emergence of depression. Here much depends on the care of parents. It is important to remember: if a child is not able to deal with his own experiences on his own, he needs expert help from a specialist (psychotherapist).