Question
The mother of a five-year-old girl noticed small hard lumps in her daughter’s chest and worried whether it could be a sign of precocious puberty. The girl had been taking lysine B12, as recommended by the doctor at the clinic, due to low immunity when she was four years old. She has been taking it intermittently for nearly a year. The parents want to understand if long-term use of lysine could potentially lead to precocious puberty.
Answer
Lysine is one of the essential amino acids for humans, playing an important role in promoting growth and development. However, long-term intake of lysine does not cause precocious puberty because lysine does not contain hormones and will not disturb the body’s hormone levels. The causes of precocious puberty are diverse, often including reduced sensitivity of the hypothalamus to gonadotropin-releasing hormone, leading to early secretion of gonadotropin-releasing hormone, as well as other factors such as brain tumors, gonadal tumors, or exogenous hormones. Therefore, the girl’s small hard lump in her chest should be further diagnosed by a professional doctor to determine whether it is related to precocious puberty.