What are the causes of precocious puberty?

Generally speaking, there are many causes of precocious puberty, such as the influence of light, which can induce precocious puberty. However, there are also cases of precocious puberty where the cause is not clear at all. At this time, you must go to the hospital for relevant examinations to confirm the diagnosis, because precocious puberty can not only cause developmental problems, it is also a precursor to malignant tumors, so you must pay attention to it.

Precocious puberty of intracranial origin (10%):

Sexual precocity of intracranial origin: premature development or function of the reproductive tract due to hypothalamic or pituitary lesions. Except for premature maturation of ovarian follicles and ovulation, the development is the same as that seen in normal children. Most cases of sexual precocity of intracranial origin are lesions or tumors at the bottom of the third ventricle. These lesions often involve the posterior hypothalamus, especially the tuber cinereum, mammillary bodies and optic chiasm. Congenital brain defects or encephalitis may be accompanied by signs of premature sexual maturation, which can usually be confirmed by neurological examination. The premature sexual development of McCune-Albright syndrome, accompanied by polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, skin pigmentation and other endocrine disorders, is a congenital defect of the hypothalamus.

Some children may initially have no neurological symptoms when engaging in sexual activities related to intracranial diseases. Given the types of precocious puberty that begin with many intracranial lesions, it is very important to discover the location and characteristics of the disorder.

Precocious puberty caused by intracranial diseases can be explained by the ability of the posterior hypothalamus to inhibit the production and release of gonadotropins by the anterior pituitary gland. Therefore, lesions in the posterior hypothalamus can destroy or inhibit certain mechanisms that normally regulate the intensity of stimulation of the posterior pituitary gland, thereby relieving the control of the hypothalamus over the pituitary gland, thereby increasing the production of gonadotropins, leading to gonadal activity and sexual maturation. In other cases, it may be caused by direct stimulation of the pituitary gland.

Unexplained precocious puberty (40%):

About 80-90% of constitutional sexual precocity has no obvious cause. According to the etiology, it is often classified as central nervous system-derived precocious puberty because patients may have small, unconfirmed hypothalamic lesions and some patients have a family history of precocious puberty. It is appropriate to call this situation cryptogenic because very little is known about the source of this type of precocious puberty.

Precocious puberty caused by ovarian tumors (25%):

Ovarian tumors causing sexual precocity Ovarian tumors as a cause of precocious puberty deserve emphasis, but in fact feminizing tumors are the most common in childhood. In childhood, most feminizing mesenchymal tumors grow rapidly in physical development and bone age, and develop along with the feminization of the body shape, maturation of the genitals and enlargement of the breasts during puberty. Pubic hair appears, but it is not as early as true homosexual development. Pelvic tumors are often not palpable, vaginal discharge increases, vaginal smears show enhanced estrogen effects, irregular vaginal bleeding, and the incidence of precocious puberty caused by estrogen-producing tumors is higher than that of unexplained tumors. Urinary estrogen and 17-ketosteroid levels may be higher than those of normal children of the same age, but such cases generally do not ovulate and cannot become pregnant. Occasionally, follicular non-neoplastic ovarian cysts can lead to precocious puberty. Removal of the cysts (containing a large amount of estrogen) can alleviate the development of precocious puberty, but if there are gonadal remnants, the small cysts can still increase and the phenomenon of precocious puberty can continue.

In the article, we have learned the causes of precocious puberty. Usually, when girls experience precocious puberty, it is likely caused by ovarian tumors. At this time, parents must pay special attention and not take it lightly, lest it delays the treatment of their children's illness.