Delayed puberty – Delayed puberty

Delayed Sexual Development (Delayed Puberty; Delayed Sexual Maturation)

What is the delay of sexual development?

Girls reach puberty at the age of 8-14 years, Boys – aged 9-14. If sexual development is not finished in this time interval, This is called delayed sexual development.

Reasons for the delay of sexual development

Delayed puberty can cause:

• Constitutional delay of puberty – Some children just need more time to puberty, than their peers;
• Hromosomnыe anomalies:
  • Syndrome Ternera (girls);
  • Klinefelter Syndrome (Boys);
  • Prader-Willi syndrome (Boys and girls);
  • Noonan syndrome (Boys and girls);
• Gipogonadizm;
• Kallmann syndrome;
• Hypopituitarism may be caused by infection, trauma and central nervous system.

Risk factors for the delay of sexual development

Factors, which can increase the risk of delayed sexual development include:

• Family history;
• Disease:
  • Diabetes 1 type;
  • Inflammatory bowel disease;
  • Kidney disease;
  • Mukovystsydoz;
  • Anemia;
  • Chronic infections;
  • Anorexia nervosa;
  • Malnutrition;
  • Cancer;
  • Autoimmune diseases;
• Other factors:
  • Radiation therapy;
  • Chemotherapy;
  • Intense exercise.

Symptoms of delayed sexual development

One common symptom for both boys, and girls is stunting. Other symptoms include:

• Symptoms in boys:
  • The absence of an increase in testicular 14 years;
  • Lack of puberty 14 years;
  • Sexual organs are not fully developed within five years after the start of development;
• Symptoms in girls:
  • Lack of breast development at age 13 years;
  • No signs of breast enlargement or growth of pubic hair before the age of 14 years;
  • The absence of menstruation for five years or more after the onset of breast development;
  • The absence of menstruation at the age of 15-16 years.

Diagnosis delay sexual development

The doctor will ask about your symptoms and medical history of the child, and perform a physical examination. He drew attention to a child's growth, and its development. X-rays can be assigned to the left wrist bone. This will help assess the, whether the degree of bone age of the child.

It can be assigned to a blood test.

For accurate diagnosis is sometimes necessary to perform images of internal structures and organs. For this purpose, applied:

• MRT;
• Pelvic ultrasound (for women);
• X-rays of the skull.

Delayed puberty – treatment

Especially for children, who delay sexual development occurs by natural causes do not require treatment, although they will undergo periodic monitoring.

Other treatments depend on the cause of the delay of sexual development. For children, who suffer from a chronic disease, need to undergo treatment for his. After stabilization of the child, puberty begins often itself.

Other treatment procedures can include:

Hormone therapy for delayed sexual development

Sex hormones will help begin sexual development. They can be assigned to children with chromosomal abnormalities, such as Turner syndrome and Klinefelter's syndrome. Hormones may also be administered to adolescents with severe delay or lack of sexual development.

Besides hormones, They can be assigned to other medications, to help accelerate the growth in boys with constitutional delay of puberty.

Psychological support for children with delayed sexual development

Teen, which has been delayed sexual development, They may be needed psychological counseling. This may help your child cope with the social pressure.

Ongoing monitoring of children with delayed sexual development

The doctor will monitor the growth of the child, its weight, and sexual development. This will help determine the effectiveness of treatment.

Prevention delay sexual development

Most causes, delay sexual development, It can not be avoided. To reduce the likelihood of disorder, make sure, that the baby is healthy and developing normally – well nourished and receives all the necessary nutrients. It is also necessary to treat the underlying disease, which may lead to a delay of sexual development.