Precocious puberty is when a child's body begins changing into that of an adult puberty too soon. When puberty begins before age 8 in girls and before age 9 in boys, it is considered precocious puberty. Puberty includes rapid growth of bones and muscles, changes in body shape and size, and development of the body's ability to reproduce. The cause of precocious puberty often can't be found. Rarely, certain conditions, such as infections, hormone disorders, tumors, brain abnormalities or injuries, may cause precocious puberty. Treatment for precocious puberty typically includes medication to delay further development.
Puberty is when kids develop physically and emotionally into young men and women. Usually, this starts to happen in adolescence:. In girls and boys, some of these can be signs of possible early puberty, but sometimes are normal:. When puberty ends, growth in height stops.
Antal E. Solyom, Carol C. Austad, Ivan Sherick, George E.
The first of these publications deals with diagnostic and pathogenetic studies, while the second will be devoted to the aspects of growth and maturation in the same patients. A few observations on the latter group of children may be briefly recorded with a view to avoiding diagnostic pitfalls and the consequences of calling children abnormal who are exuberantly healthy. Am J Dis Child. Coronavirus Resource Center.