Switching Off Puberty
This is just a quick comment about an editorial and an article I read in New Scientist today, an issue I will certainly comment on much more extensively once I have reviewed the article/s more thoroughly and thought about it a little more. The comments from the editor in regards to a development of new drugs that could see the possibility of what seems to be a "controlled" puberty, basically using drugs to delay the onset of puberty until a more ‘suitable’ time.
According to the editorial, there are a few reasons that this could be beneficial, firstly for young girls that enter puberty early (under 11) there are some ramifications for their continued health, they tend to be shorter and have problems with weight, there is also an increased risk of breast (and prostate for males) cancers developing in later life for children who develop early. Secondly early puberty tends to interfere with concentration, for example in the case of academic study.
A few thoughts on this. While nature isn't perfect, there seems to be a reason that puberty is a highly individualised occurrence. Granted, it's often simply physiological reasons, a certain amount of this chemical at this time triggers this response etc, but ultimately it seems in general that it's a change that occurs when it is advantageous for the organism to do so. However in extreme cases, it is often much more beneficial to delay puberty, particularly for medical reasons. This is where these types of drugs could do a lot of good, where there exists a situation that a persons’ continued wellbeing could be improved by an interruption of their adolescent development.
The problems arise in the grey areas, where parents choose to delay puberty in their children to a more socially acceptable age, where no dire medical situation exists and the delay is purely a matter of preference. The same grey area occurs where puberty is delayed to increase concentration, particularly in academic study. There are a lot of questions that need to be asked before these kinds of drugs can be released to people without serious medical condition. For instance is this absolutely treatment medically necessary? Is it ethical to interfere in a natural and fundamental transition, where the natural progression may not harm the individual in their later life? What affect will this have on the child in later life, has the delay in the onset of puberty been properly assessed for risks?
This is a difficult issue; do you think its right to delay puberty? What about in those non-extreme cases, where there would be only a slight medical advantage or delaying puberty to a more ‘socially acceptable’ age?
According to the editorial, there are a few reasons that this could be beneficial, firstly for young girls that enter puberty early (under 11) there are some ramifications for their continued health, they tend to be shorter and have problems with weight, there is also an increased risk of breast (and prostate for males) cancers developing in later life for children who develop early. Secondly early puberty tends to interfere with concentration, for example in the case of academic study.
Pills - Wikipic
The problems arise in the grey areas, where parents choose to delay puberty in their children to a more socially acceptable age, where no dire medical situation exists and the delay is purely a matter of preference. The same grey area occurs where puberty is delayed to increase concentration, particularly in academic study. There are a lot of questions that need to be asked before these kinds of drugs can be released to people without serious medical condition. For instance is this absolutely treatment medically necessary? Is it ethical to interfere in a natural and fundamental transition, where the natural progression may not harm the individual in their later life? What affect will this have on the child in later life, has the delay in the onset of puberty been properly assessed for risks?
This is a difficult issue; do you think its right to delay puberty? What about in those non-extreme cases, where there would be only a slight medical advantage or delaying puberty to a more ‘socially acceptable’ age?
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