ADOLESCENCEADOLESCENCE

AdolescenAdolescence ce (lat adolescere = (to)

grow) is a transitional stage of human development that occurs between childhood and adulthood. Adolescent humans go through puberty, the process of sexual maturation.

TeenagersTeenagers (ages 13-19) are usually adolescent, though in some individuals, puberty may extend a few years beyond or before the teenage years.

PubertyPubertyrefers to the process of physical changes by which a child's body becomes an adult body capable of reproduction.

Differences Differences Between Male and Between Male and Female PubertyFemale Puberty

Two of the most significant differences between puberty in girls and puberty in boys are the age at which it begins, and the major sex steroids involved.

Although there is a wide range of normal ages, on average, girls begin the process of puberty about 1-2 years earlier than boys and reach completion in a shorter time. Girls attain adult height and reproductive maturity about 4 years after the first physical changes of puberty appear. In contrast, boys accelerate more slowly but continue to grow for about 6 years after the first visible pubertal changes.

The hormone that dominates female development is estradiol, an estrogen. While estradiol promotes growth of breasts and uterus, it is also the principal hormone driving the pubertal growth spurt and epiphyseal maturation and closure. Estradiol levels rise earlier and reach higher levels in women than in men.

In boys, testosterone, an androgen, is the principal sex steroid. While testosterone produces all the male changes characterized as virilization, a substantial product of testosterone metabolism in males is estradiol, though levels rise later and more slowly than in girls. The male growth spurt also begins later, accelerates more slowly, and lasts longer before the epiphyses fuse. Although boys are 2 cm taller than girls before puberty begins, adult men are on average about 13 cm (5.2 inches) taller than women. Most of this sex difference in adult heights is attributable to a later onset of the growth spurt and a slower progression to completion,a direct result of the later rise and lower adult male levels of estradiol.

Testicular Size,

Function, and Fertility

Pubic Hair

Body and Facial Hair

Voice Change

Height growth

Gigantism: Precocious

Puberty

Male Musculature

and Body Shape

Body Odor, Skin Changes,

Acne

Breast Development:

Pubertal Gynecomasstia

Breast Developmen

t

Pubic Hair

Vagina, Uterus, Ovaries

Menstruation and

Fertility

Body and Facial Hair

Body Shape, Fat

Distribution, and Body

Composition

Body Odor, Skin Changes,

and Acne

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