Puberty
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Puberty is characterized by the release of female and male hormones, which bring reproductive organs to full maturity and are responsible for sexual characteristics, such as pubic hair.
Tanner’s description of the stages of puberty is still used by healthcare providers.
The average age of the onset of menarche among girls in the United States is age 12, compared to age 17 about 100 years ago.
The timing of the onset of puberty has social implications for boys and girls, with early maturing girls and late maturing boys experiencing the most difficulty.
Precocious puberty occurs when the signs of puberty appear before the age of 8 years, and may be due to tumors or to fat intake and environmental contaminants.
Physically, adolescence is bounded by the beginning and end of puberty, the period of physical maturation of the reproductive organs. These borders are imprecise, because puberty occurs in stages over time, beginning at ages 10 to 12 (in girls) and ending at ages 18 to 20 (in boys). The physical changes of puberty underlie the cognitive, social, and emotional changes that have earned adolescence the reputation for being a tumultuous and bittersweet time of life.
The term puberty refers to sexual maturity, which in girls means the onset of menstruation and in boys is harder to define. Prepubescence is the 2-year period of preliminary changes that occur prior to the onset of puberty. Postpubescence extends another 2 years or so beyond puberty, during which time bone growth is completed and the reproductive organs become fully mature. The sequence of sexual maturation has been described by Tanner (1990), whose Sexual Maturity Rating Scale is used by healthcare providers to track the development of breasts in girls and of the penis and scrotum in boys (Table 55-1).
The term puberty refers to sexual maturity, which in girls means the onset of menstruation and in boys is harder to define.
SEX CHARACTERISTICS AND HORMONESPuberty begins when the hypothalamus starts to produce gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which is transported via the bloodstream to the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland releases luteinizing hormone (LH), which stimulates the production of sex hormones by the gonads (ovaries and testes) and other endocrine glands in both males and females. Primary sexual characteristics (i.e., maturation of the ovaries, breasts, uterus, penis, and testes) develop in the reproductive organs as a result of sex hormone production. Secondary sexual characteristics (i.e., development of facial, body, and pubic hair; deepening voice; and distribution of fat and muscle), accompany hormonal changes but are not directly involved in reproduction.
Puberty begins when the hypothalamus starts to produce gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which is transported via the bloodstream to the pituitary gland.
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