The Five Stages of Puberty Every Girl Goes Through

Puberty seems to be this big scary thing that happens all at once, but, in reality, the process of coming into sexual health is a lot more gradual than all that. In fact, puberty starts when you don’t even realise it, beginning with the production of hormones in girls as young as eight or nine. Still, puberty tends to have more of an effect on your wellness once the outward signs start appearing, and it’s good to know what to expect. So, let’s go through all the different stages of puberty for girls.

 

1. The beginning of puberty: Between the ages of eight and 11 (although it may start later) you will go through the first stage of puberty. All the changes your body goes through will be internal, meaning that you may not notice you’re in this stage. However, just in case you were wondering, this is the stage in which your brain will create more hormones such as LH and FSH, and your ovaries will ovaries react and begin developing oestrogen-producing capabilities.

 

2. Stage Two: Generally speaking, you’ll go through the second stage of puberty when you are 11 or 12. This is the time in which your breasts will begin to grow or, as it is often referred to, “bud”. You know you have buds when you have some transitional breast tissue, and your areolas or nipples begin to darken and rise. While this usually happens before any other outwardly signs of adolescence, it’s not uncommon to see the beginnings of pubic hair before your breasts develop. During this stage of puberty, you are likely to have a growth spurt.

 

3. Stage Three: In the third stage of development, your breasts will continue to grow and your pubic hair will also carry on growing. You may find that hair begins to show up under your arms, and that your vagina grows in size. While you can pass through this stage anywhere between the ages of nine and 15, most girls tend to go through stage three of puberty around the age of 12 or 13. It is usually by this stage in development that you go through menarche, or your first period. Menarche tends to occur for seven out of 10 girls by stage three of puberty. Generally speaking, it takes less than three years for menstruation to occur after stage one of puberty, or once your body receives its signal from the brain to start making changes.

 

4. Stage Four: The fourth stage of puberty often occurs around ages 13 and 14 in girls, although it can happen earlier or later. During this stage, the accelerated growth of your height will usually slow down, and your level of body fat will reach a higher, adult level – usually tapering off at about 26% body fat. You’ll find that your pubic and underarm hair grows fuller and coarser. It’s common for girls to have their first periods by the age of 12 or 13 but, if this is the case, you might find that your periods are still irregular as your body is still balancing hormones and trying to find a rhythm.

 

5. The End of Puberty: Once you’ve reached stage five of puberty – usually between the ages of 14 and 19, you will have fully matured. By this time, it is likely that you will have achieved your maximum height, your breast will have reached their full size, and pubic hair will be fully developed. Likewise, your cardiovascular, skeletal and muscle systems will all be fully developed, and your periods and ovulation will occur regularly.

Categories: fully developed, generally speaking, girls, growth, hair, nbsp, puberty, pubic hair, stage, Stages of Puberty

How Can You Spot The Signs Of A Growth Hormone Deficiency?

Not a commonly publicised condition, growth hormone deficiencies can be either a total or partial condition and result in impaired physical development. Growth hormones are created y the pituitary gland (hypophysis) which is a small gland found on the underside of the brain. The amount of hormone produced is controlled by other hormones which are released by a different part of the brain. When this hormone is secreted into the bloodstream, it stimulates the liver to secrete yet another hormone, which develops an insulin-like growth factor – primarily IGF-1. As we age, we naturally produce less growth hormones compared to young adults. There are various reasons for this problem, including an insufficient release of the stimulatory hormone from the hypothalamus, an insufficient production of the growth hormone by the pituitary gland, a decrease in the IGF-1 hormones, as well as problems caused by defects in the receptors which absorb the hormone in the body’s cells. Some people may have a deficiency due to a genetic birth defect, or because it is hereditary, or they may have had a lack of oxygen at birth. Some studies suggest that diseases in the pituitary gland can lead to a defect, as well as abnormalities in the hormone receptors. For most people, though, there is no clear reason – it simply occurs.

 

If a patient has a total hormone deficiency, it will often be discovered in a child’s infancy. This is because an infant’s height and weight are normal at the time of birth, but between three and nine months the growth rate will be reduced in children with a growth hormone deficiency – this is known as growth disturbance. There will be signs later in life too, including weight diminishing, delayed teeth development, and they may also develop a thick layer of fat under the skin. However, this symptom won’t always be visible if there is just a partial growth hormone deficiency. Although everyone can measure and weigh their children, there will be regular growth examinations carried out by your health visitor and GP, who will follow specific guidelines to check that your child is developing at a normal rate. If you’re worried about your children’s growth rate though, you should seek the advice of your GP. Your GP will measure and weigh your child, then draw growth curves – they will take the parents’ height and weight as adults, at puberty and as infants into account. They will also ask questions about the child’s diet, their appetite, patterns of defecation, exercise habits, and any social problems so as to rule out other health problems. They will be examined for signs of disease, as well as puberty and tooth development if need be. They may also suggest an x-ray of the left hand and wrist, to examine the bone development. If there is a growth hormone deficiency, the ‘bone age’ may be lower than the child’s genuine age.

 

If this problem is not treated, it can lead to severe growth impairment, particularly their height. However, if the problem is treated in the early phase then it is likely that the child will gain several extra centimetres which will bring them into a normal range for their age. Treatment tends to rely on synthetic growth hormones being injected each day until the child stops growing, and this is done at specialised paediatric units. Parents will be trained to administer the injections so that the correct amount is provided. Though side effects are rare, the child will be monitored closely so that no risks are taken with their health.

Categories: Child, Deficiency, growth, growth hormone, growth hormones, growth rate, hormone, hormone deficiency, hormones, pituitary gland, treatment

How Does Maternal Depression Affect Child Wellness?

Maternal depression can have a huge impact on family wellness; not only does it affect you as a mother, but a wealth of research suggests that your child’s wellbeing can also be affected.

 

According to a recent study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, if you’re depressed, you have a reduced responsiveness towards infant distress, which, as you can discern for yourself, can lead to harmful effects on your child. However, the good news with this study is that the researchers noted cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) served to reduce depression in mothers and this made them more responsive towards infant distress.

 

Other research, this time published in the journal Paediatrics, has found that, if you begin to become depressed when your child is around nine months old, your child is more likely to be short for their age around the ages of four and five. The researchers surmised that children of depressed mothers may have an ‘increased stress response’ which means that they have higher levels of cortisol, and lower levels of growth hormones. This could be the reason why they are shorter.

 

Nerina Garcia-Arcement, a licensed clinical psychologist, comments that there are, in fact, many negative wellness outcomes for children of depressed mothers. She explains, ‘A depressed mother often is less responsive to their child’s needs (i.e. when distressed, hungry) and does not have the emotional and physical energy to play and cuddle with their child. This can be disruptive to forming a secure and healthy emotional bond with each other. When a child does not feel safe and secure they can go on to become isolated, have difficulties making friends and develop anxiety and depression.’

 

If you are suffering from depression, you need to make treatment a priority for your own health as well as your children’s. ‘A parent is modelling for a child how to cope with challenges,” Garcia-Arcement adds. ‘The best example a mother could set for her child is that when you don’t feel well, you don’t ignore it. Instead you prioritise your wellbeing and you seek out help. Things they can do include speaking to a mental health professional, reaching out to friends and family for social support, attending mum groups in person or participating online.’

Categories: Child, depressed, depressed mothers, garcia arcement, growth, Maternal Depression, Responsiveness

Cancer: Is it Possible To Slow Mutations?

A new study led by MIT has discovered that some mutations in the genome of cancer cells can actually slow down or stop. Surprising researchers, this study has shown that cancer may not be a sequence of inevitable driver events, as first thought, but actually a delicate balance between drivers and passengers. This means that spontaneous remissions or remissions which are triggered by medications could be mediated by deleterious passenger mutations. The average cancer cell has a genome which has thousands of mutations and mutated genes within it – however, only a handful of these mutated genes are drivers which lead to an uncontrolled growth which develops into a tumour. Until the study, not much analysis was done into the passenger mutations, as it was thought these didn’t impact the progression of the cancer. However, these passenger mutations aren’t simply surplus genes. In sufficient numbers, they can slow down, or stop, the growth of cancer cells.

 

Passenger mutations, on their own, have little effect compared to drivers, but they have a profound effect when grouped together in large quantities. This offers new hope for potential cancer-fighting drugs in the future. Researchers have created a computer model which stimulates the evolutionary growth of cancer to test this theory, during which they found that during the long periods between acquiring new driver mutations, these cells were accumulating passenger mutations. There are several drugs in development which target the effect of chaperone proteins in cancer, which are aiming to suppress the driver mutations. But researchers think that another option, in developing drugs which target the chaperoning process by encouraging the suppressive effect of passenger mutations. They are now comparing cells with identical driver mutations, but different passenger mutations, to see which have the best effect on the growth of cells.

Categories: cancer, cells, growth

Could Doing Regular Cardiovascular Exercise Cure Cancer?

A new study has revealed that those concerned with their wellbeing in terms of their risk of cancer can actually do something proactive to help reduce their chances of either getting or dying from the deadly disease.

This study was conducted on mice, by a team of scientists who put them through their paces (quite literally) and then assessed their wellness.

The mice were divided into two groups, with one fed a controlled diet and the other fed a high fat diet. One group then were given regular exercise, by being placed on a motorised treadmill for 60 minutes per day, five days per week, whilst the other group were not given any exercise and allowed to remain fairly sedentary. After 32 weeks of the experiment, 71 percent of the mice who were taking exercise developed tumours that were larger than 10mm, as opposed to 100 percent of those who had a sedentary lifestyle.

Lead researchers say that this indicates that there is a significant benefit to doing regular exercise, and that it can reduce your chances of developing cancerous tumours. It also was shown that the exercise decreased the levels of liver disease in mice, and we can draw direct parallels between this and humans, whose unhealthy, fat-filled lifestyles often lead them to develop liver disease. This, in turn, can lead to liver cancer, but what the new research shows is that the risk could be dramatically reduced if people were just to exercise regularly, no matter what kind of lifestyle they were leading.

 

Could Doing Regular Cardiovascular Exercise Cure Cancer?

Categories: cancer, exercise, growth

Could There be a Hidden Explanation Behind Diabetes?

The University of Copenhagen has drawn a little closer towards understanding what causes diabetes and hormone deficiencies. The group of researchers from the university have been working on the discovery, which centres around the way that the body regulates certain hormones, and the results of the study have been published in PLOS Biology, a scientific journal.

People who are suffering from diabetes or are showing poor growth may well have problems with something called the Pick1 protein, which is a protein in the human body that plays an important role in the production of insulin and also the human growth hormones.

The researchers studied this protein, and looked at what role was played by Pick1 when the brain releases growth hormone and the pancreases releases insulin. During the testing phase of the research, the researchers found that a deficiency of Pick1 directly translates into a deficiency in growth hormone and insulin in mice and in fruit flies, which were tested as part of the research. In mice in particular it was very evident that the mice who were short of Pick1 soon became small, fat and with an intolerance to sugar. There is no reason to suggest that this is not the case in humans, too.

Different cells are responsible for the production of certain kinds of hormones, which they store after production and then secrete into the blood, to trigger the process for which each hormone is responsible. This is not a well-understood mechanism, but it is thought that this process plays a part in both diabetes and poor growth. Now that we know about the effect of the Pick1 protein, further research can be done on how to prevent deficiencies.

Could There be a Hidden Explanation Behind Diabetes?

Categories: Diabetes, growth, growth hormone, hormone, pick1, pick1 protein, poor growth, Protein

Stimulating Human Growth Hormone With Natural Help

Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is naturally produced in the body and stimulates growth while regenerating and reproducing cells. Its production in the body diminishes after puberty. A very complex hormone, HGH is usually prescribed for children and adults with growth disorders.

Its ability to build muscle, fire metabolism and improve endurance has made a synthetic version of HGH a popular choice for athletes and bodybuilders while it is also known for its anti-ageing properties. However, this version of HGH is expensive and available only on prescription.

There are alternatives to HGH that are more affordable and available over the counter. One is Growth Factor 9, which uses a blend of amino acids to support and encourage the body to produce its own HGH. So what does Growth Factor 9 contain?

Arginine HCL is an amino acid that is already known to boost the levels of the important free radicals nitric oxide, which widens blood vessels to improve blood flow and oxygen, and is used in supplement form for this purpose. And it can also improve levels of growth hormone by limiting the production of the hormone somatostatin, which in turn is known to halt the production of HGH.

The amino acid acetylcysteine protects muscle cells and helps them recover from damage; it can also help with fat loss and boost nitric oxide levels.

Another ingredient of Growth Factor 9 is glutamine, an amino acid that has been shown to increase levels of HGH and is also essential for the immune system. The Japanese herb schizonepeta is another compound renowned for its enhancement of the immune system. In Japan, it is used to treat the common cold while studies have shown it can be used to treat conditions such as psoriasis and eczema.

The combination of the ingredients used in Growth Factor 9 are said to have led to an almost 700% increase in the levels of HGH found in participants in a clinical trial.

 

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Stimulating Human Growth Hormone With Natural Help

Categories: Alternative, growth, HGH