A 2020 Study was the first of its kind to use an animal model to examine the potential neurological and psychiatric effects of puberty-blocking drugs — 22 years after doctors began prescribing them to gender dysphoric adolescents on an experimental basis.
Results showed that leuprolide treatment, which is used to reduce puberty, was effective. “profound effects”Reports of depression among female mice and male mice were also reported.
“Our behavioral and neurobiological characterization reveals for the first time that chronic leuprolide treatment, starting after the onset of puberty, exerts sex-specific effects on social preference, despair-like behavior and hyponeophagia, neuroendocrine responses to mild stress, and hyperactivity of the [dentate gyrus], a crucial neurobiological regulator of stress responses in mice,”It reads.
Dutch doctors were first recognized in 1998. Begin using leuprolide (GnRH agonists)How to stop puberty They were developed as an intervention to treat pediatric gender dysphoria. Over the years, two studies have been published on their application. These were published in the problematic “Dutch protocol,”It was adopted later by the United States as the foundation of the United States, so it is now known. “gender-affirming”Model of Care, that uses the use cross-sex hormones and puberty blocksers as well as surgeries. “affirm”The trans-identity of minors.
Although previous studies of leuprolide treatment in animals focused on the physiological effects, the placebo-controlled study was the first to investigate the neurobiological effects. It used post-pubertal mice for a model that could be applied to children suffering from gender dysphoria. Rats and mice have been long used for their purposes. model organismsBiomedical research due to their biological, anatomical and genetic similarities with humans.
“The effects of GnRH agonists on brain function and mental health are not well understood,” Read the abstract. “Here, we investigated the effects of leuprolide on reproductive function, social and affective behavior, cognition, and brain activity in a rodent model.”
Study results showed that male and female mice had different behavioral patterns due to leuprolide. One example is that the males were more socially inclined than the females. However, the drug suppressed puberty. The experimental group demonstrated that male mice prefer female companionship over the group they are in control. “a lack of interest in females and displayed no aggressive behavior toward other male mice.”
Treatment of female mice with leuprolide resulted in a reduction in appetite and increased immobility, which are both signs of despair-like behavior. Researchers found that the brain area responsible for the increased neural activity was more active in female mice treated with leuprolide. “mood and anxiety regulation, stress resilience and cognition”This supported observations about the depressed behavior of female mice. Leuprolide treatment in male mice led to an increase in neuroendocrine stress responses.
“In conclusion, we report that chronic leuprolide treatment in mice has profound effects on female behaviors that are commonly interpreted as depression-like, as well as on neural activity in the hippocampus—a brain region crucially involved in stress processing, depression, and cognition,”The discussion section is read.
“While these mood-related effects are specific to females, leuprolide causes pronounced differences in locomotion and social preference in males and increases neuroendocrine responses to mild stress,”Researchers added.
“Our results in an animal model shed new light on the effects of chronic GnRHa treatment on behavioral, neuroendocrine, and neurobiological effects of a drug that is commonly used for many clinical conditions, and particularly to alleviate gender dysphoria in transgender youth,”Conclusion of the study.
Claudia Gennari is an internist who also studies the subject. She believes this study has huge implications in pediatric gender medicine.
“This study was long overdue and should bring pause to clinicians treating children with puberty blockers because it shows sex-specific neuropsychological changes caused by this medication,”Gennari spoke to The Daily Wire.
“This strongly suggests GnRH agonists are not a ‘pause’ button at all and its use can cause negative effects on cognition, behavior, and coping skills,”She added.
Not at all “completely safe and reversible” “a pause button on puberty,”Proponents of “gender-affirming care”According to some, children who take puberty blocksers as soon as they feel the urge to, then go on to receive cross-sex hormonal therapy, (which makes up most of the population), will eventually become sterilized.
The New York Times examined the adverse effects that hormones called puberty blocks can have on bone health and published an investigative report. ArticleWe reviewed the scientific literature and interviewed over 50 experts in academic fields around the world.
For children, only FDA approved puberty-blocking medications are available. These drugs can only be used in the treatment of central precocious sperm disorder. This is when children reach sexual maturity before they turn 8. Off-label prescriptions of puberty blocking drugs have been prescribed by doctors as an option. “treatment”Experimental treatment of gender dysphoria among adolescents.
They aren’t FDA approved for use outside of this window. There have not been any long-term studies that support their use. However, they are available to children. “like candy”To a “skyrocketing”New patients: As per to a pediatric endocrinologist from Boston Children’s Hospital’s GeMS (Gender Management Service), which was the first clinic in the country to begin administering puberty blockers to children.
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