did you know that the term precocious puberty was coined in the 1940s by alvin hayles, a physician wholt with childhood development. if you'd like to see this program again or watch any of our other healthy body, healthy mind programs, please visit our website at: >> if you didn't know the dates on these two, it would almost be difficult to tell them apart. >> well, the earlier a child is evaluated and diagnosed, the earlier that treatment can be initiated. and the outcome of the treatment is definitely going to be influenced by, you know, the time at which the treatment was begun. so and then the predictability of that outcome becomes less and less as a child gets older. so it's absolutely essential to make the diagnosis early and begin therapy as soon as possible. >> there's really only one treatment for precocious puberty that's effective, and that treatment turns off puberty temporarily, and that is the use of the gnrh analogues. if you use the gnrh analogue in adequate doses, it blocks the effect of gnrh and blocks the pituitary from secreting hormones, so one creates a prepuberta