Puberty is the developmental process that culminates in reproductive capability and is the result of a complex series of molecular and physiological events. The release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone from specialized neurons of the hypothalamus begins the hormonal cascade that causes gonadal activation and the physical changes of puberty. Several factors have been proposed to influence the a...

In boys precocious puberty is defined as the development of secondary sexual characters before 9 year of age. In girls, the development of breasts (thelarche) before 7.5 year, the development of pubic hairs (pubarche) before 8.5 year or menarche before the age of 9.5 year is considered precocious [1]. Hypothyroidism is usually associated with delayed puberty and rarely with precocious puberty [...

Assam had a tradition of public celebration of puberty, known as tuloni biya. Tuloni biya is ceremonially symbolic to wedding which is celebrated seven days after a girl attains her puberty. In present times, however, one can hardly see any public celebration of puberty. This practice of celebration of tuloni biya has undergone significant changes. Celebration of puberty is becoming a close fam...

In this session students will evaluate data on precocious puberty and try to find its underlying causes. Read this to the class or discuss it in your own words with them. Be sure that you cover these points: what causes normal puberty; the technical terminology of puberty; is a statistically significant difference in average age at puberty of 3, or 6 months biologically significant? Emphasize t...

1. Define the ages at which puberty is considered delayed in boys and girls. 2. Discuss the typical presentation and natural history of constitutional delayed puberty. 3. Compare the differential diagnosis of delayed puberty for causes other than constitutional delay in girls versus boys. 4. Recognize the psychological consequences of pubertal delay. 5. Describe the evaluation and treatment of ...

Onset of puberty was measured in 850 F2 Friesian x Jersey animals in a QTL discovery trial. Phenotypes for onset of puberty were defined by age at puberty based on endocrine profiles, and predicted proportion of mature live weight. A QTL analysis was conducted on the derived phenotypes using line of descent and half sib regression models. Results from the proportion of estimated mature live wei...