Comment on Review says puberty blocker curb has not led to suicide rise

• Flax_vert@feddit.uk ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I thought this before, but then the Cass review came out saying we actually didn’t have enough data to know whether or not they did or didn’t make permanent effects ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

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  • flamingos@feddit.uk ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I’ve said this before and I doubt it will be the last, but this ban is not about child safety. It’s about reducing the number of trans kids because they’re a political inconvenience to a slice of the establishment. If it was about how unsafe they are, it wouldn’t only be for kids experiencing gender dysphoria/incongruence. The ban would extend to intersex adolescents:

    However, [Streeting] overlooks the fact that this ban does not include teenage patients with a difference of sex development (DSD), more commonly known as intersex. These individuals are prescribed puberty-blocking medication when they unexpectedly commence a puberty that is at odds with their gender identity. DSD patients are taking the medication for much the same reason as transgender patients – ie the puberty they are undergoing is causing distress, and pressing pause will probably manage that distress and minimise harm while a continuing care plan is developed. If we follow Streeting’s logic, the medication would also be banned for this patient cohort.

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  • Nighed@feddit.uk ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Not knowing about permanent effects still seems better than definite permanent effects 🤷‍♂️ would help learn about them too

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    • Flax_vert@feddit.uk ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Yeah but it would still need to be on a measured scale including placebos, etc.

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      • LycanGalen@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Randomised Controlled trials like you’re asking for are neither ethical nor practical in this situation. Even the Cass report stated that. Patients and doctors will know PDQ whether puberty is happening or not.

        You’re right that more data is needed. More data is always needed, especially on anything regarding a marginalised group. And, in many of these situations where we know the outcome of puberty is irreversible, makes transitioning afterwards more difficult, with a decent threat of mental health decline without the treatment, waiting around and doing nothing is more harmful than pausing puberty temporarily, where, based on the 30 years worth of research done for puberty blockers to treat precocious puberty, we see the most likely risks are for them to wind up a little shorter than they might have, and maybe fatter.

        If you’re worried the teenagers receiving this treatment may become sterile, the above linked precocious puberty article found no evidence, but here’s an article on a recent study where they used a placebo on rats (because, again, we’ll never have a randomised controlled trial done on humans). It adds to the body of data that shows reproductive activity returns to normal very quickly after stopping treatment, for the teens who do discover they’re OK with their assigned gender identity. We also shouldn’t ignore the good percentage of teens who realise they are trans, and benefit from this in more ways than just buying time.

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