The causes of precocious puberty in children

Some children develop secondary sexual characteristics before the age of 10, with girls showing menstruation and boys showing sexual development. In fact, this is precocious puberty in children. What is the cause of precocious puberty in children? In fact, the most important cause of precocious puberty in children is light. However, the editor will explain more about precocious puberty in children in the following content.

Precocious puberty in children refers to the onset of any sexual characteristic 2 standard deviations earlier than the average age of the normal population. It is generally believed that girls who develop secondary sexual characteristics before the age of 8 or start menstruating before the age of 10, or boys who begin sexual development before the age of 10, can be diagnosed with precocious puberty. Since sexual development is related to many factors and human growth and development is a continuous process, there is no very precise boundary. Some scholars believe that children are said to have precocious puberty when their breasts develop significantly before the age of 7 or they start menstruating before the age of 9, or when boys begin sexual development before the age of 9, and they need a comprehensive examination.

The sexual development process of peripheral precocious puberty in children is very different from the above rules. For boys with precocious puberty, attention should be paid to the size of the testicles. If the testicles are >3ml, it indicates central precocious puberty. If the testicles do not enlarge but masculinization develops progressively, it indicates peripheral precocious puberty, and the male hormones may come from the adrenal glands. Those caused by intracranial tumors only show symptoms of precocious puberty in children during the course of the disease. Localizing signs such as increased intracranial pressure and visual field defects begin to appear in the later stages, so people need to be vigilant.

Excessive light exposure is one of the important reasons for inducing precocious puberty in children, because light affects the normal function of the pineal gland, an endocrine organ in the brain.

Precocious puberty in children. One of the functions of the pineal gland is to secrete a large amount of melatonin when the human body enters a sleep state at night. This hormone is most secreted from 11 pm to the early morning of the next day, and stops being secreted after dawn when there is light. The pineal gland has a characteristic that as soon as the eyes see the light source, the secretion of melatonin will be inhibited or stop. If children are exposed to too much light, the secretion of melatonin in the pineal gland will be reduced, causing sleep disorders, which may lead to the premature secretion of follicle-stimulating hormone, thus causing precocious puberty in children. The incidence of precocious puberty in children is increasing year by year, but less than 10% of them are caused by disease. 90% of children suffer from precocious puberty due to external factors, among which excessive light stimulation should be taken seriously, especially when children are sleeping at night. Unless there are special circumstances, it is best not to turn on the lights and try to ensure adequate sleep. In addition, children should avoid prolonged exposure to light from computer screens to prevent precocious puberty in children. There are many causes of precocious puberty in children, which can be divided into central (true) and peripheral (false) types according to whether the thalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis function is activated prematurely.

I believe that through the above explanation, parents have an understanding of precocious puberty in children. In fact, the reason for precocious puberty in children is excessive light exposure. I hope that the above content can be an inspiration to every parent. Never turn on the lights when the child is sleeping to avoid precocious puberty in children.