This is the scientific explanation for the physical and emotional changes in adolescence

The puberty and adolescence It is a time of great changes, we already know. Our children are beginning to stop being those adorable children and are becoming a kind of miniature adults. Physical changes are evident, but they usually come hand in hand with others of an emotional nature sometimes surprising: getting angry for no apparent reason, going from sad to happy in a short period of time or feeling the ‘butterflies’ in the stomach typical of falling in love. All of this, no matter how ethereal it may seem, has a biological origin: hormones. He explains it to us the gynecologist and popularizer Miriam Al Adib, whose latest book is When hormones go haywire (Encourages Editorial). Dr. Al Adib, who last Thursday won the Doctoralia Awards for running the best-rated gynecological clinic in Spain, details how hormones can even warn of certain health problems in adolescents.

in the book ‘When hormones go haywire, you talk about the ‘hormone concept’, what does it mean?

The concept of hormone It is a chemical substance that is manufactured by a cell and exerts its function through binding to a specific receptor for that hormone; It binds to that receptor and does its job. That receptor can be in the same cell or in a neighboring cell or even in a distant cell. It can pass, it can be manufactured by a cell, it passes into the blood and reaches another cell at a distance and performs its function. That is why they are chemical mediators of information, in this case, of the endocrine system. The endocrine system is made up of a series of endocrine glands that produce different types of hormones, each with its own functions.

How do hormones influence the physical changes of puberty?

We are talking here about sex hormones. When puberty arrives, the gonads begin; The testicles – in the case of men – and the ovaries – in the case of women – begin to produce hormones. A hormonal axis called the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis is awakened (the hypothalamus and pituitary gland are in the brain and the gonads, in the testicles, in the case of men, or in the ovaries, in the case of women) .

This hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis is the one that begins to function at puberty and is responsible for making sexual hormones that, among other functions, will be responsible for secondary sexual characteristicsFor example, the presence of breasts and menstruation in girls, the presence of change in voice in boyshair growth… and a long etcetera of all the changes that occur in the brain when going from the non-fertile age, which is childhood, to the fertile age, which would be maturity. Puberty is the starting signal where the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis begins to give way to the production of hormones with the aim that when it reaches maturity, you can produce sperm or eggs to pregnancy. Furthermore, these hormones during puberty are responsible for all those changes that we are seeing.

And what about from an emotional point of view?

Obviously, the transition from childhood to adulthoodin that period of adolescence, of course there are changes on an emotional level. That is, all those changes that produce this hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis also produce changes even in the brain: They begin to be interested in relationshipsthey need to bond with other people, with their friends, they feel the need for identification with the groupthey are in that phase where they are no longer those little children who depend on their parents, but want to go outside…

Since, furthermore, the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that regulates many things, including planning and executive functions, can complete its maturity at 25 years of age, this makes it emotions are a little more overflowing in these stages of life. We do not have that filter and that emotional regulation that allows you to have that prefrontal cortex fully mature; That is why they are more impulsive and have contradictions on an emotional level. It is a process that can be hard too.

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In your book you also talk about the relationship between hormones and the nervous system, and their role in emotions as different as happiness and fear; What is that relationship like?

All human emotions each have their own “hormonal language”. For example, love is related to oxytocin; fear and stress are related to cortisol; happiness is more than serotonin.; pleasure is closely related to betaendorphins… Although this is much more complex and we are making a somewhat linear relationship, in the end, in each emotion, there is a certain neuro biochemical cocktail where there are a series of hormones and neurotransmitters involved.

Do they also have to do with the attraction that adolescents begin to feel for other boys or girls?

In attraction, of course there is an involvement of hormones. Not only are sexual hormones involved in attraction, but, for example, in falling in love, which is the craziest attraction that human beings have, a very curious cocktail of hormones is awakened where they are through the roof. hormones related to motivation, pleasure, lovewith that hook that being with that person produces in you… That’s why we say that love is blindthat falling in love is a force that catches you a lot. There are other types of love, perhaps calmer, more mature, that trigger other types of neuro-biochemical cascades, different neuro-biochemical cocktails.

Is it necessary to explain to adolescents the role of hormones at this stage of their lives to help them better understand the process of change they are going through?

Yes of course. I think it is necessary to talk more about our bodies and how they evolve, and this also means talking about our hormones. Of course yes, since it is a part within our body-mind that explains many things that happen to us.

Adolescence is a stage that is more susceptible to the appearance of certain eating disorders; Could hormones also have something to do with it?

There are some hormones that are anorectic and others that are orexigenic; That is, some stimulate your appetite, others take away your appetite. There are a lot of interrelated factors here; It depends on genetic, epigenetic, environmental factors, type of diet, weight… A lot of things are involved in how these hormones responsible for regulating appetite move.

Can hormones warn of health problems in adolescence?

In the case of women, we have something very visible that is menstruation and, sometimes, certain changes in bleeding patterns (which are regulated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis) can warn you of certain disorders.

There may also be certain hormonal disorders that can be seen in the body; for example, if you have hirsutism -which is hair in women with a typically masculine distribution-, if you have acne, menstrual disorders, it could imply that you have a polycystic ovary syndromefor example (this means that you have it; I say that it could indicate this). That is to say, there are certain imbalances produced by hormones that could warn us of certain things, of course they do.

In the case of boys, they also have their variants of normality and what is out of the norm that could also imply some alarm signal. If, according to the standard patterns of when the body changes, it deviates greatly from that (precocious puberty, delayed puberty in both one sex and the other), it can also give us warning that something may be happening.

Do hormones also play a role in late adolescence, when the dust returns to normal and emotional and physical changes stabilize upon reaching adulthood?

When we are already in adulthood, everything has already ended the process of hormonal changes and, obviously, once everything is stabilized, not only our body is also stabilized, but also our mind. The brain is already in its moment of complete development, already prepared for the adult stage, and there is already a stabilization of all those sudden changes that, of course, you have to know how to adapt to them; Puberty is still a somewhat complicated and complex stage.