Precocious puberty

Precocious puberty is puberty starting before the normal age (generally 10-11 in females and 11-12 in males, though beginning of puberty varies). ICD-9 defines it as "unusually early sexual maturity". Generally, it is normal in every respect except the timing. In a minority of children, the early development is triggered by a disease such as a tumor of the brain. Even if is no disease, unusually early puberty can have adverse effects on social behavior and psychological development, can reduce adult height potential, and may cause lifelong health risks. Precocious puberty can be treated by suppressing the pituitary hormones that induce sex steroid production. If the problem is linked to the hypothalamus or pituitary it is called central precocious puberty. This is also called complete or true precocious puberty. Puberty begun for reasons unrelated to the hypothalamus or pituitary is called pseudo-precocious puberty.Causes of precocious puberty include damage to the inhibitory system of the brain, a non-cancerous tumor called hypothalamic hamartoma producing excessive GNRH, a hormone, Langerhans cell histiocytosis, and McCune-Albright syndrome. McCune-Albright syndrome also can cause pseudo-precocious puberty. Cell tumors and gonadal tumors can also cause pseudo-precocious puberty. Girls who are not physically active and are obese are more likely to physically mature earlier.