In medicine,<unk>  is<unk>  occurring at an unusually early age. In most cases, the process is normal in every aspect except the unusually early age and simply represents a variation of normal development. In a minority of children with<unk> , the early development is triggered by a disease such as a tumor or injury of the brain. Even when there is no disease, unusually early<unk>  can have adverse effects on social behavior and psychological development, can reduce adult height potential, and may shift some lifelong health risks. Central<unk>  can be treated by suppressing the pituitary hormones that induce sex steroid production. The opposite condition is delayed<unk> . The term is used with several slightly different meanings that are usually apparent from the context. In its broadest sense, and often simplified as early<unk> ,<unk> " sometimes refers to any physical sex hormone effect, due to any cause, occurring earlier than the usual age, especially when it is being considered as a medical problem. Stricter definitions of "precocity" may refer only to central<unk>  starting before a statistically specified age based on percentile in the population (e.g., 2.5 standard deviations below the population mean), on expert recommendations of ages at which there is more than a negligible chance of discovering an abnormal cause, or based on opinion as to the age at which early<unk>  may have adverse effects. A common definition for medical purposes is onset before 8 years in girls or 9 years in boys.
Precocious puberty
Delayed puberty
Late-onset hypogonadism
Prognathism
Hypogonadism
Adipomastia
Oncofertility
Hirsutism