How to judge children's precocious puberty? How to prevent children's precocious puberty?

As the environment in which children live becomes increasingly complex, improper diet and medication can easily lead to precocious puberty in children. So how can parents determine whether their children are experiencing precocious puberty? How can we prevent children from experiencing precocious puberty?

How to judge whether a child has precocious puberty

1. Girls: Mainly observe whether the child has breast development, which may be breast enlargement or (and) breast tenderness, whether there is secretion in the underwear, and some children may have pubic hair first.

2. Boys: Observe whether pubic hair appears and whether the penis becomes longer and thicker.

What tests do children with precocious puberty need?

1. Bone age: It can determine whether the bone age is advanced and predict adult height.

2. Sex hormone level: Generally, six sex hormones are tested.

3. B-ultrasound: Check the size of the breast, uterus, ovaries, and follicles (or testicle size for boys) to determine sexual development. Adrenal function examination or B-ultrasound is also required.

4. Pituitary MRI: Since the pituitary gland is the central system of endocrine, it is necessary to check it, especially for those who are suspected of central precocious puberty.

5. Some children with precocious puberty also need to check alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) to rule out germ cell tumors, etc., and also need to check blood thyroxine levels (low thyroid levels can cause precocious puberty).

6. For those who are more likely to have true (central) precocious puberty, it is necessary to check the LHRH stimulation test, also known as the sex hormone stimulation test, to determine whether it is true or false precocious puberty.

There are three different types of precocious puberty

(1) True precocious puberty refers to the condition in which boys have enlarged penises, hair growth, a deepening voice, erect penises, and sperm production, and are fertile. Similarly, girls have enlarged breasts, underarm and pubic hair, menstruation, and can produce eggs and conceive. The cause is still unclear, but it is generally believed to be related to genetic factors, neurological diseases, or mutations in testicular or ovarian function caused by certain tumors.

(2) Pseudo-precocious puberty: This condition is similar to true precocious puberty in appearance, but the testicles cannot produce sperm and the ovaries cannot produce eggs, so the child is infertile. The cause of development is relatively clear, that is, the adrenal glands may have tissue hyperplasia or tumors, causing excessive secretion of sex hormones; the testicles or ovaries themselves have tumors, cysts and other diseases, causing premature and excessive production of sex hormones.

(3) Incomplete precocious puberty is manifested by simple breast enlargement or simple premature appearance of pubic hair, that is, among the various external sexual characteristics, only one or two sexual characteristics appear early. The cause of the disease is similar to the above two categories, but the difference is the degree of symptom manifestation.

The early appearance of precocious puberty is certainly not normal puberty development, so it is pathological and should be treated as soon as possible. The principle of treatment is: for true precocious puberty, if no disease is found, generally no special treatment is required. After the puberty period, the problem of precocious puberty will be a thing of the past and no longer exist. At most, some people will have short stature and other conditions, which have no impact on health. If nerve or tumor lesions are found, the right medicine should be prescribed and treated in time. It is worth noting that precocious puberty can occur in children who are still ignorant, so it is necessary to prevent unexpected events and prevent accidental pregnancies. This is a problem that society and parents should pay attention to. If a child has menstruation, it can be stopped with drugs such as progesterone acetate and chlormadinone acetate. For pseudo and incomplete precocious puberty, if no inducing disease is found, it does not matter whether it is treated or not.

It must be pointed out that the average age of puberty in my country is 13 to 15 years old. Some people may develop puberty a year or two earlier, which cannot be considered precocious puberty. Most precocious puberty occurs in children under 10 years old, or even in those aged 5 to 6 or younger.

How to prevent precocious puberty in children

1. Overnutrition is one of the main reasons that easily cause children's precocious puberty. To prevent the occurrence of precocious puberty, parents should pay attention to not taking too much high-protein food, and pair meat with vegetables in every meal, and never use meat as a vegetable.

2. Eat less fast food. Studies have shown that children who eat fast food more than twice a week and often eat fried and puffed foods are 2.5 times more likely to have precocious puberty than ordinary children. Therefore, limit your baby's fast food intake every week and replace fried snacks with fresh fruits.

3. Supplements can cause children to mature early. Therefore, do not blindly give children "supplements" such as royal jelly and bee pollen, or health products that enhance intelligence. If necessary, do so under the guidance of a doctor.

4. Mothers should properly store contraceptives, breast enhancement products, etc. to prevent children from accidentally taking or coming into contact with them. Mothers should also not use adult cosmetics or skin care products on children.

5. Mothers who are breastfeeding should not use breast enhancement products applied on their breasts to prevent them from being ingested by the baby.

6. Babies should eat less out-of-season vegetables and fruits, as well as foods containing additives.

7. Parents should stay away from their children when they are intimate. In addition, children are prohibited from watching movies, TV shows, or reading books related to sex.

What to do about precocious puberty

Treatment depends on the cause. The goals of treatment for central precocious puberty are: 1. inhibit or slow down development, especially to prevent girls from menstruating; 2. inhibit skeletal maturation and improve the final rise in adulthood; 3. restore the psychological behavior that is appropriate for the corresponding age.

(I) Etiological treatment. Patients with tumors should undergo surgery or chemotherapy. Patients with radiotherapy or hypothyroidism should be given thyroid preparations to correct thyroid function. Patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia can be treated with cortisol hormones.

(II) Drug treatment. 1. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs (GnRHa) Natural GnRH is a 10-amino acid polypeptide. The commonly used GnRHa are long-acting synthetic hormones that replace the sixth amino acid in the molecule, glycine, with D-tryptophan, D-serine, D-histidine, and D-leucine. Its function is to reduce the secretion of pituitary gonadotropin through down-regulation and restore estrogen to pre-pubertal levels. It can be injected intramuscularly once every 4 weeks at 0.1 mg/kg. After taking the medicine, the patient's sexual development, height growth, and bone age maturity are all controlled. Its effect is reversible. If it can be treated as soon as possible, it can improve the final height in adulthood.

2. Sex hormones

Its mechanism of action is to use high-dose sex hormone feedback to inhibit the secretion of hypothalamic-pituitary gonadotropin. For example, medroxyprogesterone acetate, also known as medroxyprogesterone acetate, is a progesterone derivative used for precocious puberty in girls. The daily oral dose is 10-30 mg, and the dose is reduced after the effect appears. Cyproterone acetate is a 17-hydroxyprogesterone derivative that can not only block sex hormone receptors, but also reduce the release of gonadotropin. The daily dose is 70-150 mg/m2. The above two drugs cannot improve adult height. Tip: In terms of drug treatment, mild precocious puberty can be treated with traditional Chinese medicine such as Zhibai Dihuang Pills, Dayin Bu Pills and other decoctions; moderate and above and true precocious puberty can be treated with progesterone and gonadotropin-releasing hormone drugs under the guidance of a doctor.