Biomaterial Database

Sexual precocity: a historical perspective and update. 2005

Allen W Root

Department of Pediatrics, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa, USA. roota@allKIDS.ORG

Puberty is the interval in the life cycle during which the child becomes an adult. It is heralded by physical changes such as acceleration of linear growth and appearance of secondary sexual characteristics, capped by attainment of reproductive capability, and orchestrated by increases in the secretion of hypothalamic, pituitary, and gonadal hormones. This article discusses selected historical and contemporary aspects of isosexual precocious puberty, i.e., the development of sexual characteristics prior to the usual age of pubertal onset.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D011629	Puberty, Precocious	Development of SEXUAL MATURATION in boys and girls at a chronological age that is 2.5 standard deviations below the mean age at onset of PUBERTY in the population. This early maturation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis results in sexual precocity, elevated serum levels of GONADOTROPINS and GONADAL STEROID HORMONES such as ESTRADIOL and TESTOSTERONE.	Familial Precocious Puberty,Idiopathic Sexual Precocity,Precocious Puberty,Precocious Puberty, Central,Precocious Puberty, Male Limited,Precocious Puberty, Male-Limited,Pubertas Praecox,Sexual Precocity,Testotoxicosis,Central Precocious Puberties,Central Precocious Puberty,Familial Precocious Puberties,Idiopathic Sexual Precocities,Male-Limited Precocious Puberties,Male-Limited Precocious Puberty,Praecox, Pubertas,Precocious Puberties,Precocious Puberties, Central,Precocious Puberties, Familial,Precocious Puberties, Male-Limited,Precocious Puberty, Familial,Precocities, Idiopathic Sexual,Precocities, Sexual,Precocity, Idiopathic Sexual,Precocity, Sexual,Puberties, Central Precocious,Puberties, Familial Precocious,Puberties, Male-Limited Precocious,Puberties, Precocious,Puberty, Central Precocious,Puberty, Familial Precocious,Puberty, Male-Limited Precocious,Sexual Precocities,Sexual Precocities, Idiopathic,Sexual Precocity, Idiopathic
D002648	Child	A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL.	Children
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012741	Sexual Maturation	Achievement of full sexual capacity in animals and in humans.	Sex Maturation,Maturation, Sex,Maturation, Sexual
D049673	History, 20th Century	Time period from 1901 through 2000 of the common era.	20th Century History,20th Cent. History (Medicine),20th Cent. History of Medicine,20th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 20th Century,History of Medicine, 20th Cent.,History, Twentieth Century,Medical History, 20th Cent.,Medicine, 20th Cent.,20th Cent. Histories (Medicine),20th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 20th (Medicine),Cent. History, 20th (Medicine),Century Histories, 20th,Century Histories, Twentieth,Century History, 20th,Century History, Twentieth,Histories, 20th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 20th Century,Histories, Twentieth Century,History, 20th Cent. (Medicine),Twentieth Century Histories,Twentieth Century History