Should I inject puberty-suppressing hormones?

Daughter with abnormally large breasts, mother rushed to take her to the doctor

Currently, the issue of early puberty in children receives special attention from parents. Many parents, when they saw their children growing up, were worried, sent them to a doctor, and then gave them drugs and injections of hormones to inhibit early puberty. According to experts, this is extremely dangerous because without a thorough examination, the use of drugs will have serious consequences.

At the Workshop on Early Puberty held in Ho Chi Minh City, Dr. BS Huynh Thi Vu Quynh, Deputy Head of Pediatrics Department (Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy), Head of the Department of Nephrology and Endocrinology at Children’s Hospital 2, said that most parents are very worried when their children hit puberty early, but it is a fact that before that many parents did not pay attention to their children’s development, did not know the process of puberty. when does it start?

Doctor Quynh shared that in many years of medical examination, the doctor once received a girl over 8 years old to come to the doctor because her mother thought that the child had early puberty when she saw that her breasts were abnormally large. After examining, the doctor noticed that the girl’s breasts had grown much larger than those of her peers.

There are many cases of children having early puberty but parents do not know. Documentary photo/Le Phuong.

However, when asked when the baby started to develop breasts, I did not know. Even when asked how your height has increased recently, I don’t remember. “The mother said that she did not regularly measure the child’s height, in daily activities, she also bathed herself, so she did not pay attention. Only once, my mother accidentally discovered that her baby’s breasts were much bigger, so she took her to the doctor, “doctor Quynh shared.

Because her 8-year-old child has already gone through puberty, the mother is concerned that it will affect the growth of height later and wants to inject puberty-inhibiting hormone for her child. However, doctor Quynh said that to determine whether this girl really is precocious puberty and whether or not to have the injection, it is necessary to have a thorough examination, from which it can be concluded and given indications.

In fact, cases like the girl above are not uncommon. However, experts say that not all children are prescribed medication, especially the injection of hormone that inhibits early puberty. Moreover, in the process of taking care of children, parents need to carefully observe the growth in height, weight as well as the change in sexual characteristics of their children, from there to take them to the doctor and take measures to intervene. timely.

You don’t have to get a hormone injection every time you hit puberty before the age of 8

Dr. BS Bui Phuong Thao, Deputy Department of Endocrinology – Metabolism – Genetics (National Children’s Hospital) said that currently, for girls, the signs of puberty usually start at the age of 8, while boys are usually at 8 years old. 9 years old. If signs of puberty appear before this age, it is considered precocious puberty. Conversely, if girls after 13 years old, boys after 14 years of age have not yet reached puberty, it will be considered late.

The injection of hormones for children must be carefully considered, with the indications and supervision of the doctor. Illustration.

A problem that many parents are concerned about is when to inject puberty-suppressing hormones for children? Dr. Phuong Thao affirmed that the injection of hormone that inhibits early puberty must be prescribed by a specialist, parents absolutely do not do it on their own because this is extremely dangerous.

According to Doctor Thao, for children with central precocious puberty, specifically girls under 6 years old and boys before 9 years old, hormone injections should be given to inhibit puberty. Accordingly, central precocious puberty is caused by the maturation of the hypothalamic axis of the pituitary gland, causing increased secretion of sex hormones by the pituitary gland, stimulating the development of the gonads.

Doctor Thao gave an example of a girl who had central precocious puberty before the age of 6. If injected with a hormone that inhibits precocious puberty, in the short term, it will inhibit the development of secondary sexual characteristics, thereby helping the child. focus on studying, get along with friends, avoid sexual abuse.

In the long run, hormone injections will help children develop better height. If not injected, the child’s bones will be affected, namely the age of bone development before the child’s actual age.

There are many cases when a girl has early puberty, from 6 to 8 years old, even over 8 years old, parents want to be injected with inhibitory hormones, but Doctor Thao said that for these children, it depends on In each specific case, a careful examination of the doctor will determine whether or not to inject. Because the treatment only helps to solve short-term problems such as inhibiting the development of secondary sex characteristics, slowing down the development time of mammary glands, pubic hair, but in terms of height improvement, there is not much muscle left. association, not even.

In summary, the decision whether or not to give a child a puberty-suppressing hormone injection will depend on the child’s age at the time of diagnosis, as well as the predicted adult height. This is the most important factor in deciding on treatment. “For example, a girl who has puberty before the age of 6, if not treated with puberty-suppressing hormone injections, will later be only 1.50m tall. But with treatment, I can grow 9 to 10cm taller, “doctor Thao cited.

In addition, doctors and families will also have to discuss the psychophysiological effects of the child, as well as the risks and benefits of hormone injections, so that the family will be the one to decide whether to treat the child. young or not.

The reason that the injection of puberty-inhibiting hormone needs to be carefully considered and discussed with the family is because the injection into the body will definitely have certain effects. For example, children have to suffer pain when injections, there are hormonal changes, side effects, although minor, can still occur such as headache, hot flashes, risk of infection at the injection site, etc. It is also related to the problem. time, cost … when treating for each specific case.