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What is puberty?

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Puberty usually starts at the age of 8-14, females often starting puberty earlier than when males do.

 

Here’s what to expect as a girl going through puberty:

All bodies will experience

  • Acne

  • Body odor

  • More sweat

  • Hair under armpits, pubic areas, arms, face, and legs    

  • Pain in arms and legs

  • Breasts develop and get bigger

  • Hips widen and body may become more curvy

  • Start getting periods

  • Labia may change color and grow bigger

 

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Welcome! You probably found our website because you may be looking for some resources and information about this thing called puberty, a phase change which we all go through. In that case, you are not alone! If you want to learn more about this thing that you go through, keep on reading!

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Puberty is a phase change that every person goes through throughout their life, it is a step to reach adulthood. It is to produce sexually mature adults capable of reproduction. Puberty comes in stages and may take years for everything to fully develop, you may have some signs earlier in your life and other signs may show up later. Puberty is different for everyone so everyone goes through it at their own pace. Your body begins to develop and change when you go through puberty such as girls developing breasts and boys starting to look more like men. You may experience a lot of changes throughout this time but do not worry, everyone is going through similar things and it is not something to worry too much about. 

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Puberty affects a lot of things, one crucial thing that it affects is the emotions. Puberty is controlled by hormones and these hormones affect your feelings as well as your body. During puberty, it is common for people to experience more mood swings and have your feelings and emotions change quickly. Puberty can also develop having sexual thoughts and urges as you grow older. 

 

There are three categories of pathophysiology that puberty can be broken down into, this includes premature puberty, delayed puberty, and contrasexual puberty. 

 

Premature puberty:

 

Premature puberty, or precocious puberty, is the early development of secondary sexual characteristics and is defined prior to the age of eight in girls. There are two types of precocious puberty, central precocious puberty (CPP) and peripheral precocious puberty (PPP). The CCP is more common in girls and involves the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis which can lead to early but normal pubertal development. The PPP results in an increase in sex steroids that don’t come from activation of the HPG axis. PPP patients typically include a rapid and atypical sequenced pubertal progression. 

 

The causes of premature puberty include:

  • Premature adrenarche

  • CNS and pituitary lesions

  • constitutional/idiopathic precocious puberty

  • McCune-Albright Syndrome

  • Exogenous sex hormones

 

Delayed puberty:

 

Delayed puberty is the lack of physical evidence of puberty by 2 to 2.5 standard deviations above the mean age for the initiation of puberty. Delayed puberty in girls is considered the absence of breast growth by 13 years of age or more than four years between thelarche and menarche. 

 

The causes of delayed puberty include:

  • Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism 

  • Hypopituitarism

  • Chromosomal abnormalities

  • Hypothalamic dysfunction due to secondary causes (hypothyroidism, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease, celiac disease, and diabetes mellitus)

  • Malnutrition

  • Long-term glucocorticoid

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Contrasexual development:

 

Contrasexual development occurs when male or female children develop physical features of the opposite gender. This tends to be more common in girls and is caused by polycystic ovaries and increased responses by the adrenal gland. They may experience male-like distribution of hair and may develop hirsutism. 

 

The causes of this include:

  • Cushing syndrome

  • Acromegaly

  • Exogenous androgens

  • Adrenal tumors

  • Ovarian tumors

  • Hyperprolactinemia

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Puberty, again, is something everyone goes through and the effects are unavoidable! Overall, don’t stress about it and ride with where it takes you!

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“Delayed Puberty: Video, Anatomy, Definition & Function | Osmosis.” Www.osmosis.org, www.osmosis.org/learn/Delayed_puberty. Accessed 4 Nov. 2023.

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Breehl, Logen , and Omar Caban. “Physiology, Puberty.” Nih.gov, StatPearls Publishing, 2018, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK534827/.

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Planned Parenthood. “Planned Parenthood.” Plannedparenthood.org, 2019, www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/teens/puberty.

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“Puberty: Normal Growth and Development in Girls.” Saint Luke’s Health System, 2019, www.saintlukeskc.org/health-library/puberty-normal-growth-and-development-girls.

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Kids Helpline. “Mood Swings and Puberty.” Kids Helpline, 10 May 2019, kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/mood-swings-and-puberty.

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Heenan, Megan. “Why Did so Many Girls Experience Early Puberty during the Pandemic? (the Virus Might Not Be to Blame).” Genetic Literacy Project, 27 Oct. 2022, geneticliteracyproject.org/2022/10/27/why-did-so-many-girls-experience-early-puberty-during-the-pandemic-the-virus-might-not-be-to-blame/. Accessed 4 Nov. 2023.

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Lee, Raina. “Growing Pains: Puberty, Adolescence, and the Mind.” Jets Flyover, jetsflyover.com/5746/features/growing-pains-puberty-adolescents-and-the-mind/.

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