Trans youth will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers at NHS England gender identity clinics in a “blow” to gender-affirming healthcare.

Trans youth will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers at NHS England gender identity clinics in a new “blow” to gender-affirming healthcare.

Puberty blockers are a type of medicine that prevent puberty from starting by blocking the hormones – like testosterone and oestrogen – that lead to puberty-related changes in the body. In the case of trans youth, this can delay unwanted physical changes like menstruation, breast growth, voice changes or facial hair growth.

On Tuesday (12 March), NHS England confirmed the medicine, which has been described as “life-saving” medical care for trans youth, will only be available to young people as part of clinical research trials.

The government described the move as a “landmark decision”, Sky News reported. It believed such a move is in the “best interests of the child”.

    • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.eeEnglish
      13610·
      9 months ago

      blocking puberty has some crazy side effects.

      I’m a provider at a children’s hospital. I specialize in orthopedics and rehabilitation, so I mostly deal with the musculoskeletal system. I have colleagues who would be able to provide a much better and more in depth explanation, but I will do my best.

      Even in orthopedics “hormone blockers” are used fairly frequently. For example the same drugs that people use to transition are utilized to moderate the epiphyseal fusion of growth plates. Puberty is also frequently delayed to moderate the hormone levels of juvenile cancer patients. Or even more increasingly common, to halt the symptoms of precocious puberty in young women.

      The vast majority of juveniles prescribed hormones to delay puberty are for non gender affirming care like cancer. The problem with moderating what medical providers can and can’t treat is that you are assuming you know more about medicine than the a person who went to medical school.

      You may be trying to protect kids, but what ends up happening is an interference of medical care, and usually not the type you intended. If hormone drugs become more monitored, providers may be hesitant, or have a more difficult brine prescribing it.

      The dangers of delaying puberty are very small, when you stop the prescription puberty begins again. Usually the only side effect is excessive growth due to a delay if epiphyseal fusion. In regards to gender affirming care, I will remind people that their providers are looking at total outcomes. Meaning they are factoring in things like the higher potentiality of self harm and suicide.

        • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.eeEnglish
          204·
          9 months ago

          Provider is actually the preferred terminology in most hospitals nowadays. It helps transition away from physicians being the “captain of the ship” to a more team based medical approach.

          It also helps boost patient confidence in the entire medical team, especially in places like where I work, where there are a lot of residents and PAs doing the bulk of the patient care.

            • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.eeEnglish
              151·
              9 months ago

              Lol, Idk. Do people go to medical school for the title, or to actually help people?

              I like the team approach, and I think referring to everyone as a provider is especially good for my residents, some of which will occasionally think they know more than a PA-C who’s been here for 30 years, just because they don’t have an MD after their name.

              The only doctors that care about being called doctor are residents who think too highly of themselves, or the dinosaurs who hate patient care and only got into the field for the prestige.

              • DarkroomDoc@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
                412·
                9 months ago

                You can feel about it however you’d like, but the term provider was purposely used to justify different care without patients being aware.

                It’s not a matter of a 30 year PA vs a resident, experience certainly matters. But I take issue when you claim medical knowledge because you’re a “provider”, and especially because you work in a pediatric hospital. The role of a pediatric endocrinologist and an ortho PA almost don’t overlap, and the background schooling almost don’t either.

                That’s not to say I’m particularly qualified either (it’s outside my specialty) but you infer that you’re qualified to comment when you and I both know, frankly, you’re not.

                • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.eeEnglish
                  81·
                  9 months ago

                  used to justify different care without patients being aware.

                  Lol, you really think a PA is going to provide different care than an MD? What, an MD is going to prescribe PT and bracing when a PA is going to … chop their leg off?

                  But I take issue when you claim medical knowledge because you’re a “provider”, and especially because you work in a pediatric hospital.

                  Did I not predicate my statement with my lack of speciality? What exactly did I say that was false? If you have problems with the information I stated then say so. But, if all you are doing is appealing to an entirely assumed authority, go kick rocks.

                  The role of a pediatric endocrinologist and an ortho PA almost don’t overlap, and the background schooling almost don’t either.

                  What? I mean endocrinology doesn’t refer the majority of our patients, but it’s a significant amount… Also, the only information I gave over endocrinology, directly pertains to my field.

                  but you infer that you’re qualified to comment when you and I both know, frankly, you’re not.

                  Lol, I have no idea how qualified you are, and you have no idea what my qualifications are. However, based on your statement I highly doubt you actually work in patient care. Seems like you’re pretending to be a character of a doctor from a 00’s medical drama.

            • mightyfoolish@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              9 months ago

              I know therapists and other medical professionals. There is a push to let people see non physicians directly instead of needing a physician to refer you to the person who can obviously help you more.

    • Omniraptor@lemm.eeEnglish
      392·
      9 months ago

      Precocious puberty has been a thing forever and the first medications for delaying it by regulating hormones have been around since the 1980s. I think that should be the jumping off point for research. However afaik the same sorts of drugs are also commonly used to treat cancer in adults.

      Here is an article about their use in treating trans people with links to various studies https://transfemscience.org/articles/puberty-blockers/

    • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.worldEnglish
      293·
      9 months ago

      How long has this medical technology been in use and where can I find studies about it?

      Decades. It was there when I was a kid, so like 20 years ago. And it wasn’t new medical technology at the time.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3311·
      9 months ago

      I have to imagine that blocking puberty has some crazy side effects.

      Sort of the joke. Puberty is what has the crazy side effects.

    • Lyrl@lemm.eeEnglish
      245·
      9 months ago

      It reduces bone density. Not to unhealthy levels in teens, but there are concerns the lower baseline will increase osteoporosis risk when the patients get to old age.

      They can also only be used for a couple of years. Some non-binary people want to be on them permanently, but doctors won’t prescribe that. Some kids want more time to decide, and unfortunately there isn’t anything safe to use through the full teenage years.

    • ynthrepic@lemmy.worldEnglish
      51·
      9 months ago

      The side effects and risks are worth it when you only get one shot at puberty. If you don’t transition as a pre-pubescent teenager, you will never “pass” as well, especially as a transwoman.

      A really good example of how successful you can be if you’re early is Corey Maison. There are cases of transition regret of course, but they’re still a very small percentage of the total, and that percentage is reduced by puberty blockers giving young people more time to figure out themselves and their own bodies, and to make the choice that’s right for them.

      • VR20X6@slrpnk.netEnglish
        63·
        9 months ago

        Yeah, that’s the gravity of things that people don’t seem to understand. Yes, there can be unwanted side effects from puberty blockers, but they are relatively minor. On the other hand, one possible side effect for people that are willing to brave those puberty blocker side effects but aren’t allowed to do so is suicide. This is unfortunately often life or death.

    • fidodo@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      9 months ago

      There’s some studies that found that bone density could be affected, but considering the suicide rate of trans people I’m going to say that’s a tiny sacrifice for the assurance that you can have the body your brain wants to be in.

    • Dasus@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1313·
      9 months ago

      Discovered in 1971, and introduced for medical use in the 1980s.

      “Where can I find studies about it”?

      Have you tried perhaps, idk, a search engine? How do I have a feeling that even if I were to show you the science which agrees that they are safe medications, you’d have an “argument” in which you criticise the info without even reading it.

      People perfectly well know how to look for things online, and when they pretend not to… well, it smells fishy. Fishy, like sealions.