puberty

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Common Chemical May Trigger Early Puberty
Common Chemical May
Trigger Early Puberty
NEW STUDY

Common Chemical May Trigger Early Puberty

Researchers suggest the fragrance musk ambrette prompts hormonal changes

(Newser) - For the first time, research has potentially linked early onset puberty to a common chemical found in home and beauty products. Experts have been raising the flag about precocious puberty for a while now as they've witnessed the average age that children start puberty continue to dip earlier and...

Why Living With an 8-Month-Old Dog Can Be Rough
Why Living With an
8-Month-Old Dog
Can Be Rough
new study

Why Living With an 8-Month-Old Dog Can Be Rough

In a word: puberty

(Newser) - It turns out living with a dog that's going through puberty might not be much fun, either. Research out of England has found parallels between human teens and their parents and adolescent dogs and their owners when it comes to an uptick in conflict. It's potentially something dog...

Modern Girls Hit Puberty a Year Earlier Than '70s Counterparts

Researchers say obesity, environmental chemicals could be to blame

(Newser) - If it seems like girls these days are hitting puberty earlier than in decades past, you're not imagining things—and researchers now suggest obesity and environmental chemicals may be playing a role. The Guardian reports on new research out of the University of Copenhagen that looked at 30 global...

Polarized Trans Battle Rages Across 8 States

South Dakota has already passed a bill that limits trans treatments for young people

(Newser) - Transgender treatments for youth: safe and appropriate, or far too risky? The issue is heating up in eight state legislatures as advocates, doctors, and studies add to an increasingly complex debate, USA Today reports. South Dakota passed a bill last week banning doctors from using the three main treatments—puberty...

What Life Is Like When Puberty Starts at Age 2
What Life Is Like When
Puberty Starts at Age 2
longform

What Life Is Like When Puberty Starts at Age 2

Patrick Burleigh details a childhood of shame, shaming, and anger

(Newser) - Patrick Burleigh doesn't remember when he grew his first pubic hair, which makes sense—most people don't remember much from when they're two. That's how old the now 34-year-old was when he entered puberty, a story he recounts at length for the Cut . The cause of...

For Those With Psychological Sex Problems, Potential Relief

Kisspeptin is now being explored as a way to help couples struggling to conceive

(Newser) - Kisspeptin, a naturally occurring hormone that kicks off puberty and is thought to fuel what the Telegraph describes as the "voracious sexual appetites of young people," could well be a sort of "mental Viagra" for people with psychosexual disorders—that is, disorders that are psychological as opposed...

Genes Help Predict When We Lose Our Virginity

Scientists exploring a possible link between onset of puberty and sexual activity

(Newser) - Sure, people become sexually active under countless circumstances for countless reasons and at many different ages, but at least part of the timing appears to come down to our genes, Cambridge University researchers report in the journal Nature . Studying the genes and life histories of nearly 400,000 people, they...

Smoked Pot as a Teen? You Could Have Been Taller
Smoked Pot as a Teen?
You Could Have Been Taller
NEW STUDY

Smoked Pot as a Teen? You Could Have Been Taller

Non-users grow 4 inches taller than marijuana-addicted boys: study

(Newser) - Ever wished you were a bit taller? How about 4 inches taller? If you smoked marijuana as a prepubescent boy, that wish may not have come true. Researchers at a university in Pakistan studied levels of hormones linked to growth and puberty in the blood of 217 boys addicted to...

How One Woman Is Changing the Sex 'Talk'

Julie Metzger offers sex ed for kids—and their parents

(Newser) - The Talk (you know, the one about sex and puberty) may not be a pleasant prospect for either kids or their parents. And even if kids get sex ed in school, it may not make discussing the issue with parents much easier. But what if kids and parents took a...

Soda Could Cause Earlier Menstruation

Sugary drinks linked to first periods 2.7 months ahead: study

(Newser) - Scientists have previously observed that girls are having their first periods earlier than they once did, and a new study offers a possible reason: sugary beverages like soda. Researchers studied 5,583 US children between 1996 and 2001; they found that girls ages nine to 14 who downed an average...

Boy Needs Surgery After Hitting Puberty at 18 Months

Good news is that it seems to have worked

(Newser) - It was your standard-issue case of a boy going through puberty—changes in voice, genitals, and demeanor, along with some acne—except for one crucial factor: He was just 18 months old. The bizarre case is from India, where doctors diagnosed the toddler with premature puberty, reports the International Business ...

Boys Hitting Puberty Earlier, Too


 Boys Hitting 
 Puberty 
 Earlier, Too 
study says

Boys Hitting Puberty Earlier, Too

It's age 9 in the earliest cases, says study

(Newser) - It's widely accepted at this point that girls are reaching puberty earlier than they used to, and now the same appears to be true of boys. A comprehensive new study says boys are entering puberty somewhere between six months and two years earlier than the textbooks think, reports CNN...

We Need to Stop Shaving, Ahem, Down There
We Need to Stop Shaving, Ahem, Down There
OPINION

We Need to Stop Shaving, Ahem, Down There

Pubic hair is natural and shaving can be unhealthy: Emily Gibson

(Newser) - It's time to draw a Maginot Line around bikini lines and end the war on pubic hair , writes Emily Gibson in the Guardian . Whether driven by fashion, smooth-skinned celebrities, or an errant view of hygiene, it's a trend that leaves people susceptible to infections and suffering from chaffed...

More and More Girls Hitting Puberty by Age 7
 More and More 
 Girls Hitting 
 Puberty by 
 Age 7 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

More and More Girls Hitting Puberty by Age 7

And the percentages nearly double by age 8

(Newser) - 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

(Newser) - 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

 Let 7-Year-Olds Have 
 Their Padded Bikinis 
OPINION

Let 7-Year-Olds Have Their Padded Bikinis

Promoting healthy sexual exploration is what really matters

(Newser) - 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...

'Puberty Pill' Could Make Kids Smarter

Drug would act on brain, blocking receptor that slows learning

(Newser) - 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

Experts blast flimsy science, lack of testing

(Newser) - 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...

Scientists Find Gene That Triggers Menstruation

Scientists find genetic key that triggers when a girl gets her first period

(Newser) - 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...

Puberty Starting for Girls as Young as 6

Shortened childhoods for little girls have experts worried

(Newser) - 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...

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