Editing Precocious puberty (section)

{{Short description|Puberty occurring at an unusually early age}}
{{Infobox medical condition (new)
| name          = Precocious puberty
| synonyms      = Early puberty
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| caption       = Precocious development in a child two years of age
| image_size    = 200px
| field         = [[Gynecology]], [[andrology]], [[endocrinology]]
| onset         = 
| duration      = 
| types         = 
| causes        = [[Idiopathic]], [[brain tumor]]
| risks         = 
| diagnosis     = 
| differential  = 
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In [[medicine]], '''precocious puberty''' is [[puberty]] occurring at an unusually early age. In most cases, the process is normal in every aspect except the unusually early age and simply represents a [[human variability|variation]] of [[Human development (biology)|normal development]]. There is early development of secondary sex characters and [[gametogenesis]] also starts earlier. Precocious puberty is of two types: true precocious puberty and pseudoprecocious puberty. In a minority of children with precocious puberty, the early development is triggered by a disease such as a [[tumor]] or [[brain injury|injury]] of the [[Human brain|brain]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/sexual/precocious.html#|title=Precocious Puberty|publisher=KidsHealth|access-date=2013-09-09}}</ref>

Even when there is no underlying disease, unusually early puberty can have adverse effects on social behavior and [[psychological development]] (having more mature knowledge than one's peers, feeling inadequate, trying to attend and establish friendships with older people, [[Depression in childhood and adolescence|depression]]). Affected children also face shorter adult [[human height|height]] potential and possible lifelong health risks. Central precocious puberty can be treated by suppressing the [[pituitary]] [[hormone]]s that induce [[sex steroid]] production. The opposite condition is [[delayed puberty]].<ref name="Howard_al.2018">{{cite journal |last1=Howard |first1=S. R. |last2=Dunkel |first2=L. |title=The Genetic Basis of Delayed Puberty |language=en |journal=Neuroendocrinology |volume=106 |issue=3 |pages=283–291 |date=2018 |pmid=28926843 |doi=10.1159/000481569 |s2cid=4772278|url=https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/bitstream/123456789/31203/3/Howard%20Genetic%20Basis%20of%20Delayed%20Puberty%202017%20Accepted.pdf }}</ref><ref name="Klein_al.2017">{{cite journal |last1=Klein |first1=D. A. |last2=Emerick |first2=J. E. |last3=Sylvester |first3=J. E. |last4=Vogt |first4=K. S. |title=Disorders of Puberty: An Approach to Diagnosis and Management |journal=American Family Physician |volume=96 |issue=9 |pages=590–599 |date=November 2017 |pmid=29094880}}</ref>

The term is used with several slightly different meanings that are usually apparent from the context. In its broadest sense, and often simplified as '''early puberty''', "precocious puberty" sometimes refers to any physical [[sex steroid|sex hormone]] effect, due to any cause, occurring earlier than the usual age, especially when it is being considered as a medical problem. Stricter definitions of "precocity" may refer only to central puberty starting before a statistically specified age based on percentile in the population (e.g., 2.5 [[standard deviation]]s below the population mean),<ref name="MeshName |precocious+puberty">{{MeshName|precocious+puberty}}</ref> on expert recommendations of ages at which there is more than a negligible chance of discovering an abnormal cause, or based on opinion as to the age at which early puberty may have adverse effects. A common definition for medical purposes is onset before 8 years in girls or 9 years in boys.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web|title=default - Stanford Children's Health|url=https://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=precocious-puberty-early-puberty-90-P01973|access-date=2021-02-16|website=www.stanfordchildrens.org}}</ref>