Post a response:
|
AI Response: In ancient times, the primary causes of what would now be considered delayed puberty were malnutrition (nutritional deficiencies) and chronic illness, along with a tougher, more physically demanding lifestyle that impacted overall growth and development. Environmental and Lifestyle Factors -- Malnutrition and Diet: The age of puberty was highly sensitive to nutrition. Poor diet and inadequate caloric intake, common in early agricultural societies and during times of famine, significantly delayed menarche and other pubertal milestones. In contrast, data from Paleolithic hunter-gatherer societies suggests a much earlier age of puberty, similar to modern times, when nutrition was likely more consistent with evolutionary needs. -- Chronic Illness and Infection: A high prevalence of chronic illnesses and infections (especially in crowded agricultural communities) hindered growth and delayed the onset of puberty. The body, under stress from disease, prioritized survival over reproductive development. -- Physical Stress: Strenuous physical labor from a young age also contributed to a tougher environment that limited the body's energy reserves for growth and development. Ancient Medical Understanding Ancient physicians, such as the Greco-Roman doctor Soranus, noted variations in the age of puberty, often placing menarche around 13 or 14 years. Their explanations were based on the prevailing medical theories of the time, such as the humoral system (which attributed conditions to imbalances in bodily fluids) or "complexional" causes, rather than the modern understanding of hormones, genetics, or specific diseases. Summary The "delay" observed in historical populations compared to modern average onset (before the downward trend of the last 150 years due to improved living conditions) was largely a result of environmental stressors, not intrinsic biological differences. Malnutrition and chronic disease were the most significant, though often unspecifically understood, ancient causes of delayed puberty. SOURCES: Delayed puberty historical perspective - wikidoc 28 Jul 2020 — Overview. Studying the archaic humans in Pleistocene (i.e., greater than 10,000 years ago), it assumed that puberty was... wikidoc Children aren't starting puberty younger, medieval skeletons ... 12 Jul 2020 — Severe environment. Factors such as poverty, poor nutrition, alcohol consumption, air pollution, violence and neglect d... University of Reading Precocious puberty - Wikipedia History. Pubertas praecox is the Latin term used by physicians from the 1790s onward. Various hypotheses and inferences on puberta... Wikipedia 11.12 Coming of Age: A History of Puberty 3 Jan 2024 — There is archeological evidence that the age varied based on nutrition: if there was a famine on, menarche was delayed. ... Her Half of History The Historically Slippery Age of Puberty 1 Jan 2018 — Gluckman and Hanson estimate that Paleolithic and Neolithic women reached menarche around age 10, with full reproductive... The Last Word On Nothing Metabolic Programming of Puberty: Sexually Dimorphic Responses to Early Nutritional Challenges 31 Aug 2013 — Indeed, fragmentary evidence strongly suggests that puberty onset and reproductive capacity are sensitive to nutritiona... Oxford Academic The Genetic Basis of Delayed Puberty - PMC 25 Jun 2019 — Whilst a fascinating heterogeneity of genetic defects have been shown to result in delayed and disordered puberty, and ... National Institutes of Health (.gov) Clinical Spectrum and Causes of Delayed Puberty Among Patients ... 23 Jan 2022 — Delayed puberty (DP) is observed in 5% of adolescents and can impair health and psychosocial outcomes [1-3]. One review... National Institutes of Health (.gov) The Evolution of the Age at Menarche from Prehistorical to Modern ... 8 Aug 2025 — Abstract. Menarche denotes the onset of the female reproductive capacity. The age that menarche occurs is mostly attribu... ResearchGate Delayed Puberty in Males & Females This “constitutional delay” of growth, development or puberty is the most common reason puberty is overdue, especially in boys. A ... Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago |