[Health Tip] Early Puberty Left Untreated Can Stunt Growth... "Early Screening and Treatment Are Important"

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many children gained weight naturally as they spent time indoors without playing outside and frequently enjoyed delivery food or snacks. In such cases, if secondary sexual characteristics begin early in girls before age 8 and boys before age 9, it is necessary to suspect precocious puberty rather than simple weight gain. Typical symptoms of precocious puberty include the growth of pubic hair and underarm hair.

According to the medical community, precocious puberty is presumed to be caused by various factors such as genetic influences, obesity, and exposure to environmental hormones. However, in most cases, it occurs without a clear cause. Rarely, it can be triggered by tumors in brain regions that regulate sex hormone secretion, adrenal glands, or gonads, so it is important to comprehensively check medical history of other diseases, neurological symptoms, and medication history to accurately diagnose the cause of onset.

When precocious puberty occurs, children experience menarche at a young age, which causes psychological stress, and growth ends early, resulting in a shorter final height. Professor Choi Jin-ho of the Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism Department at Seoul Asan Medical Center said, "Treatment is recommended to increase final adult height and prevent psychological stress."

Treatment for precocious puberty involves injections that reduce sex hormones to allow growth at pre-pubertal rates over a long period, administered every 4 weeks or every 3 months. Recently, injections given every 6 months have become available, making treatment easier than before. Precocious puberty treatment aims to slow down the rapid growth caused by early puberty so that children can grow slowly over a longer time. During treatment, children grow about 4 to 6 cm per year, so it does not hinder height growth.

Early diagnosis is important for the treatment to effectively increase final height. Professor Choi Jin-ho advised, "If a patient visits after menarche or when puberty has progressed significantly, treatment usually does not help much with growth. If secondary sexual characteristics start early, it is recommended to visit a hospital and get tested as soon as possible."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.