Adrenarche - Debbie

[Guest guest]

Debbie,

This was an earlier email posted by Katy. It condenses the major points

about adrenarche well.

Hope this help!

Pat (g-ma to , RSS, 34 months, 23.9#, 32.2 " , G-Tube)

Some nuggets about Adrenarche...

--> Adrenarche occurs before puberty.

--> If you look at an RSS kids' growth chart (untreated), you will see that

they may enter adrenarche earlier than normal kids and that once they hit

puberty, the puberty length is actually shorter, but accelerated. So, if

you trace your finger along the growth curve,

you would see that there is only a brief period of time in which to " catch "

the puberty and extend it.

--> Puberty suppression drugs, such as lupron, can require a shot every 28

days, and is a bit painful.

--> The drug that suppresses adrenarche is Arimidex. It suppresses estrogen

production. Estrogen production is what puts both boys and girls into

adrenarche, which leads to puberty. Estrogen is the " enemy " of growth in RSS

kids, since it pushes them into that part of the growth curve that

accelerates quickly, then flattens out!

(Ironically, estrogen is also the enemy of breast cancer patients who have

hormone sensitive breast cancer--e.g. MOI!, so you will find Arimidex is

also a Breast cancer drug).

--> Arimidex is much less intrusive to administer and may help buy more

growing time for the RSS child.

--> Signs of Adrenarche?: smelly armpits, pubic hair, breast buds, 'dirty

neck'-a condition where the back of the neck always looks dirty due to dark

pigmentation.

--> Dr. H. offered an intriguing hypothesis that RSS kids may be ultra

sensitive to estrogen (both boys and girls).....

Now, my understanding is that not all Ped Endos are on board with

aggressively going after adrenarche.....this is something Dr. H. is

supporting and talking about.