Thelarche

Thelarche is the first stage of secondary (postnatal) breastdevelopment, usually occurring at the beginning of pubertyin girls. Thelarche is usually noticed as a firm, tender lump directly under the center of the nipple(papillaand areola). Thelarche is also referred to as a "breast bud", or more formally as Tanner stage2 breast development (Tanner stage 1 being the entirely undeveloped prepubertal state). Thelarche may occur on one side first, or both sides simultaneously.

Thelarche is usually the first physical change of puberty in girls, and is a result of rising levels of estradiol.

When thelarche occurs at an unusually early age, it may be the first manifestation of precocious puberty. If no other changes of puberty or sex hormoneeffects occur, it is referred to as isolated premature thelarche, and needs no treatment.

Although breast development can occur as a part of normal male puberty, it is termed gynecomastia, and the term "thelarche" is not used with reference to male breast development.

See also

• Adrenarche
• Gonadarche
• Menarche
• Pubarche
• Puberty

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelarche Wikipedia article Thelarche.