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Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads : the ovaries in a female, the testicles in a male.
The increased secretion of testosterone from the testes during puberty causes the male secondary sexual characteristics to be manifested. [23] Testosterone directly increases size and mass of muscles, vocal cords, and bones, deepening of the voice, and changing the shape of the face and skeleton. [1]
Among researchers who study puberty, the Tanner scale is commonly considered the "gold standard" for assessing pubertal status when it is conducted by a trained medical examiner. [5] In HIV treatment, the Tanner scale is used to determine which regimen to follow for pediatric or adolescent patients on antiretroviral therapy (adult, adolescent ...
[20] [21] Puberty which starts earlier than usual is known as precocious puberty, and puberty which starts later than usual is known as delayed puberty. Notable among the morphologic changes in size, shape, composition, and functioning of the pubertal body, is the development of secondary sex characteristics , the "filling in" of the child's ...
The point at which a child becomes an adolescent is defined by the major onset of puberty. [2] [15] However, in some individuals (particularly females), puberty begins in the preadolescence years. [19] [20] Studies indicate that the onset of puberty has been one year earlier with each generation since the 1950s. [21]
Starting puberty significantly early — younger than age 8 in girls, 9 in boys — may have health effects lasting into adulthood, including higher risks of breast cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
Girls attain reproductive maturity about four years after the first physical changes of puberty appear. [3] In contrast, boys develop more slowly but continue to grow for about six years after the first visible pubertal changes. [27] [35] Approximate outline of development periods in childhood and early adulthood development. Adolescence is ...
Most of the changes of virilization are produced by androgens. Virilization is a medical term commonly used in three medical and biology of sex contexts: prenatal biological sexual differentiation , the postnatal changes of typical chromosomal male (46, XY) puberty , and excessive androgen effects in typical chromosomal females (46, XX).