March 17, 2002
Puberty
Question from Georgia, USA:
I am a 16 year old male, diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of two. I play high school varsity football, and I have noticed when I am undressing in the locker room, that I haven’t really been maturing as much as my friends. I know that all people have there own growth cycle, but this is getting ridiculous. I’ve heard somewhere that insulin is a natural steroid. If this is true does it have anything to do with it? If not what?
Answer:
Insulin is not a natural steroid. If you have a family history with others who are “late bloomers” (called delayed puberty scientifically), then this is the most likely explanation. If you diabetes is not in good control, this is also associated with delayed puberty.
You should discus this with your diabetes team since they would know about your physical exam and also how you are progressing, whether diabetes is a likely culprit, etc. They can also run some hormone tests to be sure that there is no other problem that would require treatment.
SB
