Hormonal imbalances can affect any age group, but they cause an additional element of concern when they arise in those who are still growing. The symptoms of an imbalance of hormones can manifest in a variety of ways. A child's anatomical responses to a hormone imbalance may be quite different from the way the same condition occurs in an adult who is already fully grown.
Growth Disorders
Children grow at different rates. Factors such as familial traits, nutrition habits, and history of disease can all influence growth. In addition, the endocrine glands, including the pituitary and thyroid glands, produce hormones that regulate growth and metabolism, and disorders affecting these glands can cause an abnormal rate of production of hormones that influence growth.
Bedwetting
Bedwetting is sometimes mistakenly thought of as a psychological issue, but most often physical factors are at play. Diabetes is a hormonal disorder caused by an inadequate level of the hormone insulin in the blood. It has effects on the urinary system that may lead to bedwetting.
The University of California San Francisco Benioff Children's Hospital notes that children with diabetes may find themselves wetting the bed again, long after toilet training has ended. Other symptoms such as fatigue, blurred vision extreme hunger and frequent nighttime urinating could also be signs of diabetes in children.
Sexual Anomalies
As if adolescence wasn't difficult enough, hormonal disorders can pile additional worry onto the mountain of insecurities that accompany sexual maturation. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia, for example, is a condition wherein the adrenal gland produces excessive amounts of androgen, a male sex hormone. Androgen is produced in both males and, to a smaller extent, females.
For girls, excessive amounts of androgen can result in virilizing effects such as the growth of facial hair, failure to menstruate, and the appearance of ambiguous genitalia. For boys, an excess of androgen can result in the emergence of armpit and pubic hair as early as the age of 2, plus a deeper voice, smaller testicles and a larger penis, according to MedlinePlus.
