Question

Is premature puberty associated with abnormalities in the pituitary gland leading to short stature?

Answer

Premature puberty may cause early growth development, leading to short stature. Patients may experience precocious development of secondary sexual characteristics, such as menstruation at the age of 9 and no further growth after the age of 12. The onset of the disease typically occurs at the age of 9, but the patient has not undergone any related checks. No treatment has been received in the past. Please advise on which tests should be conducted?

Analysis and Recommendations

  1. Nutritional Level: Adequate nutrition can help maximize the potential for growth development. Over the past two decades, the average age of sexual development in female middle school students in China has advanced by one year, while that in male middle school students has advanced by two years.
  2. Media Influence: Sexual hints in movies, books, and newspapers may allow children to prematurely encounter sexual concepts, leading to an early psychological age of puberty, stimulating the central nervous system in the brain that controls pubertal development to start prematurely, triggering relative precocious puberty.