Puberty News and Research

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Puberty is the maturation stage a person goes through when they develop secondary sexual characteristics. Usually, puberty occurs between the ages of 8 and 12 years in girls and between 9 and 14 years in boys.

Brain receptor that initiates adolescent synaptic pruning appears to go awry in autism, schizophrenia

Research led by SUNY Downstate Medical Center has identified a brain receptor that appears to initiate adolescent synaptic pruning, a process believed necessary for learning, but one that appears to go awry in both autism and schizophrenia.

3 May 2016

Exposure to SSRI during gestation increases chances of adolescent offspring depression

A study to be published in the May 2016 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP) reports that use of certain antidepressants during pregnancy can result in offspring depression by early adolescence.

28 Apr 2016

New book aims to guide women through menopause

As preteens, girls often take health classes to teach them about their changing bodies during puberty. For moms-to-be, classes deal with pregnancy and newborn care.

27 Apr 2016

Researchers gain new insights into female pelvis development

Women have wider hips than men because their pelves must allow for the birth of large-brained babies. Nevertheless, many female pelves are still not wide enough, which can result in difficult births. Traditionally, the human pelvis has been considered an evolutionary compromise between birthing and walking upright; a wider pelvis would compromise efficient bipedal locomotion. But this hypothesis has now been called into question: According to new studies, wide hips do not reduce locomotor efficiency.

26 Apr 2016

UAB lab to offer new tests for genetic diseases using next-generation sequencing

The Medical Genomics Laboratory at the University of Alabama at Birmingham is expanding its technological array with a new panel of diagnostic tests for genetic diseases known as neurofibromatoses and rasopathies. Beginning April 18, the UAB lab will offer new tests using the technique called customized deep-coverage, next-generation sequencing or NGS.

18 Apr 2016

Infant daughters may show early signs of PCOS from mothers

The infant daughters of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) show a higher level of an enzyme that activates testosterone and may be an early sign of developing the complex genetic disease, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.

7 Apr 2016

Pilot study shows mindfulness-based eating awareness training could help adolescents combat obesity

Some of the simplest, safest lessons to help adolescents combat obesity may be raising their awareness of what they are eating and whether they are even hungry, researchers say.

5 Apr 2016

Combining aromatase inhibitors with growth hormone may help short adolescent boys grow taller

Aromatase inhibitors, when used for up to three years in combination with growth hormone, may effectively and safely help very short adolescent boys grow taller, new research suggests. The study results will be presented Sunday, April 3, at ENDO 2016, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Boston.

4 Apr 2016

Women who have survived childhood cancer can become pregnant, shows study

For women who have survived childhood cancer, the impact of modern chemotherapy regimens on the likelihood of becoming pregnant is generally small, and most have a good chance of conceiving, according to one of the largest studies of its kind published in The Lancet Oncology.

24 Mar 2016

Women taking birth control pill less likely to suffer serious knee injuries

Researchers from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have found that women who take the birth control pill, which lessen and stabilize estrogen levels, were less likely to suffer serious knee injuries. The findings are currently available in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.

21 Mar 2016

Early childhood presents short-lived window for intervention to ensure future cardio-metabolic health

Research conducted at LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health has found that exposure to poverty does not produce metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers in young, healthy children. It identifies early childhood as an opportunity to prevent a known association in adults between poverty and the metabolic syndrome. The study is one of the first to characterize the timing of exposure to such stress and the emergence of the physiologic changes leading to cardio-metabolic disease and to document these relationships during this critical developmental period.

10 Mar 2016

Children taught at home get more sleep than others

A new study published in Behavioral Sleep Medicine shows that children who are taught at home get more sleep than those who go to private and public schools. The findings provide additional evidence of teens' altered biological clocks and support an argument for starting traditional high school later in the morning.

3 Mar 2016

How to avoid breast damage when exercising: an interview with Professor Joanna Scurr

The breast itself doesn't contain any muscles and the only 2 supporting structures are the skin and the Cooper’s ligaments. Both of those structures are quite weak mechanically so they're not able to hold the breast in place firmly.

23 Feb 2016

Early strength training could help prevent ACL injuries in young women

Young women demonstrate less strength and neuromuscular control after puberty, and this may make them particularly susceptible to Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries, according to research presented this week at the Association of Academic Physiatrists Annual Meeting in Sacramento, Calif.

18 Feb 2016

UAB research explores neurofibromatosis type 1

It is easy to tell a medical research story that has a simple and dramatic moment. But disease is often much more complex, and the work to understand it can be painstaking. A vivid example of that is seen in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Genomics Laboratory, headed by Ludwine Messiaen, Ph.D., professor of genetics. This lab offers clinical genetic testing for a broad array of common and rare genetic disorders.

3 Feb 2016

Early puberty may increase risk of developing gestational diabetes

Women who began having menstrual cycles at a younger age are at greater risk of developing gestational diabetes, a disease affecting up to 7 percent of pregnant women that can cause babies to develop type 2 diabetes and other complications, new research shows.

30 Jan 2016

Half of British schoolgirls avoid sport because of breasts, study finds

About half of all girls at UK secondary schools might be avoiding sport because of embarrassment or pain caused by their breasts, according to new research.

21 Jan 2016

Genetic factors in puberty timing: an interview with Dr John Perry

The study focused on the genetic regions that influence age at voice breaking - a distinct developmental milestone that happens to young men as their larynx (voice box) lengthens when exposed to male hormones.

11 Jan 2016

Rutgers study explores early abuse experiences of LGBT migrants

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) migrants who obtained refuge or asylum in the U.S. or Canada on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity report extensive recollections of abuse by parents and caregivers, peers and school personnel, according to a new Rutgers study.

17 Dec 2015

Clinical depression during early childhood can change the brain's anatomy

The brains of children who suffer clinical depression as preschoolers develop abnormally, compared with the brains of preschoolers unaffected by the disorder, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

17 Dec 2015