Puberty is a period of life characterized by profound morphological, functional and psychic changes, which ferry the individual from childhood to adulthood. These changes include the development of secondary sexual characteristics, the maturation of the gonads (gametogenesis) and psychological modifications. and behavioral (such as the development of the sexual drive).
In the male puberty begins around the thirteenth year of age, while in the female it appears around the "eleventh year. In the last century and a half in developed countries there has been a progressive advance of puberty, at least up to the" 70s, which can be explained by based on several elements. While on the one hand the greater caloric and protein intake, together with the best hygienic and environmental conditions, also affected the strongly sexualized context that characterizes Western societies, it clearly helps to anticipate the onset of puberty Then there are a whole series of factors that act in the opposite direction, such as altitude (relative hypoxia delays pubertal development) and particularly intense physical activity (especially if associated with low body weight and eating disorders). Finally, it should not be forgotten that, with equal conditions of life, health, nutrition and social context, the time of puberty can in any case differ - even significantly - on the basis of individual genetic factors.
In the male, the first sign of puberty is the increase in volume of the two testicles, that is to say of those organs responsible for the production of spermatozoa. In this regard, we speak of spermarca to indicate the first ejaculation, which normally occurs between 13 and 16 years; normospermia is instead reached at about 17. Similarly, in women, we speak of menarche to indicate the age of onset of the first menstruation, which appears precisely around the eleventh year of age; after this period the percentage of anovulatory cycles is around 55% in the first two years, and then drops to 20% after 5 years and rises again in the pre-menopause (obviously these are general data, susceptible to a "wide individual variability). While the epoch of the menarche is easily identifiable, it is much more difficult to go back to the epoch of the spermarch; very often, in fact, the functioning of the testicles becomes evident for the first time during a dream, with the emission of sperm (a thick liquid in which the spermatozoa "swim").
Beyond the menarche for females and the spermarche for men, puberty is accompanied by profound morphological, functional and psychic changes. For both sexes there is the appearance of axillary and anal hair, the development of the sweat glands and sexual organs, the increase in length of the vocal cords and the change of the voice; all accompanied by a rapid increase in height. the development of sex-specific secondary sexual characteristics, including beard and body hair growth in males and breast development in females (first clinical sign of pubertal development). At the end of puberty, the differences in proportions will also have changed between bone mass, muscle mass (one and a half times higher in the adult male), and adipose tissue (two times higher in the adult female).
Delays and advances in the onset of puberty are generally physiological, but in certain situations they can hide a disease or a serious organic alteration. Doctors speak of precocious puberty when it occurs before the age of 8 in women and 9 in men, and of puberty delayed if there are no signs of sexual development within 13.4 years in the female and 14 years in the male.
