puberty news stories on Newser

More and More Girls Hitting Puberty by Age 7

Kate Schwartz — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 06:16:34 CDT

Today's girls are even more likely to enter puberty by age 7 or 8, finds a new study. At age 7, 10.4% of white, 23.4% of black and 14.9% of Hispanic girls had hit puberty, based on their breast development. Those numbers nearly double just a year...

Tainted Milk May Be Causing Puberty In Infants

tricksy_rabbit — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:53:33 CDT

China's Health Ministry is investigating claims that hormones in powdered milk have caused baby girls to show signs of puberty, including growing breasts. Three infants, who range in age between 4 months and 15 months, have been found to have abnormal premature pubescent developments, and all three allegedly drank the...

Let 7-Year-Olds Have Their Padded Bikinis

Kate Schwartz — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:28:51 CDT

We should let 7-year-olds don skimpy bathing suit tops that give them the impression of having teeny boobs. Seriously, writes Laurie Penny for the Guardian , who would have loved to have a padded bra at that age, "if only to give an extra boost to the wodges of toilet roll...

'Puberty Pill' Could Make Kids Smarter

Kevin Spak — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:44:00 CDT

Studying, schmudying: A pill that boosts teenagers’ ability to learn may be in the pipeline soon. A receptor in the hippocampus area of the brain appears to slow down learning when kids hit puberty, researchers at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn report. Give kids a steroid to suppress that receptor, and...

Castration Drug Claims Rile Autism Community

Ambreen Ali — Thu, 21 May 2009 11:21:02 CDT

A drug used to chemically castrate sex offenders is being touted as a "miracle" autism treatment, but many leading doctors say the use of the chemical is medically indefensible, the Chicago Tribune reports. Lupron blocks testosterone, and users embrace the unsupported theory that autism emerges from a link between the...

Scientists Find Gene That Triggers Menstruation

Jess Kilby — Mon, 18 May 2009 09:59:31 CDT

Genetics appear to play a key role in the timing of a girl’s first period, the BBC reports. Researchers have discovered two genes that influence the onset of puberty in both sexes, adjacent to genes controlling height and weight. The findings are important because early menstruation can contribute to a...

Puberty Starting for Girls as Young as 6

Rob Quinn — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 11:14:00 CST

The first signs of puberty are appearing earlier and earlier in American girls, reports the Los Angeles Times . Early breast development is becoming so common that some experts are suggesting that the age at which it is considered abnormal be shifted down to 6 years of age for African-American girls...

Cancer Patients Gain Fertility Hope

Dustin Lushing — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 08:37:39 CDT

Prepubescent girls with cancer do not have to give up the prospect of parenthood because of the effects of chemotherapy. Cancer patients as young as 5 can have their eggs removed and frozen before treatment, preserving their fertility, according to research by Israeli scientists. With childhood cancer survival rates climbing,...