Girls starting puberty as early as 4 years old

s t a t wrote:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2610353

Puberty Hitting Girls as Young as 4 Years Old
Experts Say Environment, Genetics May Be Factor

Oct. 27, 2006 - - Most parents would agree that their kids always seem
to grow up too quickly, but now, puberty is hitting young girls
earlier than ever.

Nearly half of African-American girls start showing signs of puberty
by 8 years old, and some American girls are developing as young as 5,
even 4 years old, experts say.

Skyla Jones is an energetic 5-year-old from Georgia who loves to play.

Last year, her mother, Melissa Jones, noticed Skyla was tired all the
time, had a body odor, and had blood in her urine.

"I didn't know what was going on," Jones said. "I just went ahead and
thought she had a kidney infection. And we went on antibiotics and
still it didn't clear it up."

Skyla was eventually sent to Andrew Muir, a pediatric endocrinologist
at the Medical College of Georgia, who knew exactly what was going on.

Skyla was menstruating and was experiencing other unmistakable signs
of puberty.

"That's what he told me that it was -- that she was having a menstrual
cycle," Jones said. "I was really freaked out."

Studies have tracked an increasing trend of early sexual development.

By age 8, almost half of African-American girls and 15 percent of
Caucasian girls start developing pubic hair or breasts.

"The switch that normally gets turned on for pubertal development gets
turned on too early," said Dr. Diane Stafford of Children's Hospital
in Boston.

Until recently most doctors didn't expect to see these signs until age
10.

"It can have many causes," Muir said. "Some are related to genetics,
environmental factors, and sometimes we just don't know why it
happens."

For Skyla, a thyroid problem caused her symptoms.

While she was too young to really understand what was happening, her
mother worried that other kids might.

"I was worried kids would make fun of her because kids are cruel,"
Jones said.

Because Skyla started treatment for her thyroid problem, all her
symptoms have gone away.

Muir expects her next experience with puberty to be at a more
reasonable age.


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