A 1-year-old boy in Delhi, whose name is withheld for his protection, is suffering from a rare disease. Though he's supposed to be a toddler, his body is developing at a faster rate. Doctors say his hormones are that of a 25-year-old and his condition is known as precocious puberty.
The boy's parents noticed the changes in their baby at 6-months-old when his genital started growing abnormally. His parents initially thought it was because he's a big baby so they set aside having to see a doctor. But when the changes in the boy grew more unusual, that's when they decided to see a specialist.
Diagnosing Precocious Puberty
The baby boy was around 18 months at that time and immediately, the doctor noticed he was taller for his age, with a deeper voice tone and "fully developed sexual organ," per Hindustan Times. Further tests showed that the toddler's testosterone levels resembled that of a man at 25, which means he was also experiencing sexual urges at such a young age. A typical male toddler has testosterone levels at 20 nanogram per deciliter, but the boy's was in the 500-600 levels.
His doctors from the Max Super Speciality Hospital, Vaishakhi Rustagi and Shalimar Bagh, said that what the boy has is precocious puberty, which can occur in one every 100,000 person. The Mayo Clinic stated that this the abnormality might be caused by "infections, hormone disorders, tumors, brain abnormalities or injuries," but the boy's doctors have not identified the cause in this case.
Precocious #puberty is more common in girls than boys https://t.co/uUHGcQIkJr #pediatrics
— EndocrinologyAdvisor (@EndoAdvisor) March 22, 2016
Risks And Impact Of Precocious Puberty
Precocious puberty can be a traumatic stage for someone in his toddler years because the baby boy doesn't understand what is going on with the changes in his body. Thus, he might become violent and moody. He might also become unusually strong for his age to the point where his parents might not be able to properly put him in control.
Growth for someone with precocious puberty will stop at some point so that the boy might only reach about 4 ft. tall. The boy might also experience social and emotional problems when he's a bit older because of his experience with the disease.
Per Everyday Health, there are puberty-arresting drugs and hormone therapy to treat the condition, but this will require close monitoring by medical experts. Surgery is also an option in some cases, though this is a rare form of treatment.
Unfortunately, the condition is not covered by the insurance of the boy's parents, who have to shell out Rs 11,000 monthly ($164) for hormone medications. Doctors say he must continue with the therapy until such time that he's mentally able to grasp why his body is changing. Learn more about precocious puberty in the video below:
