SOME CHILDREN BLOSSOM INTO ADULTS TOO SOON

Most parents have, at one time or another, remarked that their children grow up too quickly. Then again, as a father of six children, I can tell you there have been many times when we wondered if they would grow up quickly enough! Some children begin physically maturing many years before it seems appropriate.

This is a medical condition called precocious puberty, and it affects about one in 10,000 children in the United States. Usually sexual development begins around age 11 in girls and 12 or 13 in boys, but in this particular condition, sexual development may begin several years before it would otherwise normally occur.

When sexual development begins prior to age 9 in girls and age 10 in boys, it is generally considered precocious (premature).

There has been a trend in the United States wherein children, especially girls, enter puberty earlier than expected.

Some doctors think this premature development may result from environmental toxins like PCBs, the long-lived chemicals that were once used in the electric power industry. Doctors think these chemicals may stimulate the reproductive development.

Another chemical pollutant in the food chain is a breakdown product of DDT, the pesticide that was banned in the United States in 1972. This breaks down to a product referred to as DDE, and some suspect that this may mimic some of the body's hormones that play a key role in the development of the reproductive system.

There has been much debate about whether other chemicals and hormones in food may be involved. Some have been concerned about the hormones that are given to help cattle grow bigger and that linger in the meat and milk products of these animals. To date, there are no studies that prove a definite link between these environmental toxins, chemicals and hormones in food with precocious puberty.

It seems that the consensus favors another theory. We have long known that very overweight girls tend to mature earlier than very thin girls do, and young women with poor nutrition tend to mature much later than normal. Consequently, some think obesity may be the cause of this premature development.

Fat cells produce a protein called leptin, which is necessary for the progression of puberty. Also, overweight individuals have more circulating insulin in their blood and insulin appears to stimulate the production of sex hormones in the ovaries and adrenal glands. There are no definite studies at this time confirming these theories.

Precocious puberty requires medical attention to be certain that there is not a tumor or other medical condition responsible for this. When these other conditions are ruled out, the goal is to halt, and even reverse, some of the premature sexual development.

A new synthetic hormonal therapy for precocious puberty has been used with remarkable success. This hormone, luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH), blocks the chain of normal hormonal events involved in sexual maturation. Although the long-term effects of LH-RH therapy are unknown, there have been no adverse short-term effects in patients treated for precocious puberty. When a child with precocious puberty reaches an appropriate age for puberty, the medication may be discontinued, and normal sexual development resumes.

On the Web

* www.mentalhelp.net/factsfam/puberety.htm provides general information about precocious puberty, the effects, causes and possible treatments.

* www.webmd.lycos.com/content/article/1739.50225 provided by WebMD gives information about early puberty and why it is happening. It also provides suggestions on broaching the subject of development with children.