Puberty Blockers - impact on the brain

A reduction in long-term spatial memory persists after discontinuation of peripubertal GnRH agonist treatment in sheep

*The long-term spatial memory performance of GnRHa-Recovery rams remained reduced (P

A few women here have posted about the horrific side effects on their endocrine system from taking PB as children for PP.

Brain fog and hypothyroid issues being one of them.

What we can all observe here is a lot of thrashing around using semantics, but obviously no information coming about the actual original question.

It's actually possible there is some research somewhere in Shizuku's database of links, but I fear we'd have to get about 100 irrelevant ones first before receiving it by accident.

Only posting as, possibly? Lack of oestrogen in an XX brain has later life impacts?

Still ploughing my way through this brilliant podcast.

V clear that the xx part of all the brain cells is important.

It's now known that women playing contact sports are affected much more by brain injury than men.

On Today’s podcast we talk about:
• The statistics regarding how women are far more likely than men to suffer from anxiety, depression, migraines, poor recovery from brain injuries, Autoimmune conditions like MS and Alzheimer’s disease.
• What she refers to as Bikini Medicine
• Her personal Story of Alzheimer’s in her family
• What the ‘Women’s Brain initiative’ aims to achieve in science
• How women’s brains age distinctly from men’s
• The unique risks women face
• How memory lapses, depression, stress, insomnia and the increased risk of dementia are key issues during menopause that arise in the brain rather than the reproductive organs
• The key brain-protective hormone: Oestrogen
• Abandoning one size fits all medicine and embracing personalised medicine
• 8 steps to improving women’s brain health including: Diet, Stress reduction, Sleep, harnessing the power of the Microbiome, deciding if HRT therapy is for you, Environmental toxins and supplements

thedoctorskitchen.com/womens-health/the-doctors-kitchen-podcast-59-how-to-reverse-ageing-part-3-of-4-the-female-ageing-brain-with-dr-lisa-mosconi

I do wonder if some people actually read the papers they link to or if they do, they read it through some sort of affirming filter.

Also unknown are the long-term effects of puberty blockade, the effect of changes in body composition and the optimal type, timing, dosage, and route of administration of GAHT for bone outcomes.

[quote WarriorN]As an aside, Lisa Mosconi has done lots of research around the female brain and it's physiological differences and hormones and implications for brain health in later life.

I'm reading her book the XX brain at the moment; it's fascinating.

I also can't help thinking that transmen's brains may be harmed by missing the oestrogen in later life?

www.lisamosconi.com/[/quote]
And are you worried that trans mens brains might be harmed by not being able to transition earlier in life?

[quote Thelnebriati]The definition of 'puberty' is ''the process of physical changes through which a child 's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy.''

Children who are given puberty blockers and cross sex hormones dont go through puberty. Their sexual organs don't develop, or create the gametes related to their sex.

If you stop giving them the blockers and the cross sex hormones while they are still young enough, they will go through puberty; if you leave it too late they won't.

A man talks about his experience of growing up with Kallman Syndrome;
www.cracked.com/personal-experiences-1852-6-awful-ways-life-changes-when-you-never-go-through-puberty.html[/quote]
You mean infertile people never went through puberty? Who knew?

As an aside, Lisa Mosconi has done lots of research around the female brain and it's physiological differences and hormones and implications for brain health in later life.

I'm reading her book the XX brain at the moment; it's fascinating.

I also can't help thinking that transmen's brains may be harmed by missing the oestrogen in later life?

www.lisamosconi.com/

It enables a trans boy's body to develop in a way that helps him overcome his gender dysphoria and live the live he feels is right for him

"A significant number of the female Olympic Athletes who were doping with testosterone in the 1980s are dead now."

What percentage of trans men are killed by testosterone?

"I feel sick at this thread, is this real that people actually think this is perfectly OK? For children who have been told they are in 'the wrong body' can be treated in this way?"

I'm afraid you have that back to front - it is typically the child who tells tha adult that they are in the wrong body. It's not literal of course - it's just a shorthand that expresses a little of how it feels to be trans. Even if you did tell a child they were "in the wrong body", it wouldn't change their gender identity - if it could then you could simply "cure" trans kids by telling them they are in the right body, and you can't.

There's been discussions on mn before; I remember a lot around the hippocampus being mentioned.

The sheep studies show a difference in the effect of PB between male and female sheep, and more research is needed.

Irrc it's worse for the female brain. Also, Iirc affects spatial reasoning.

There's lots of parallel research around the hippocampus and importance of its development in teen brain for overriding the amygdala I think. Also the positive impact of exercise on hippocampus. (But you probably know that.)

(They study sheep for pubertal brains as it's the closest brain to a human; apparently a normal way to study as obviously we don't want to experiment on actual teens.

Oh wait...)

The definition of 'puberty' is ''the process of physical changes through which a child 's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy.''

Children who are given puberty blockers and cross sex hormones dont go through puberty. Their sexual organs don't develop, or create the gametes related to their sex.

If you stop giving them the blockers and the cross sex hormones while they are still young enough, they will go through puberty; if you leave it too late they won't.

A man talks about his experience of growing up with Kallman Syndrome;
www.cracked.com/personal-experiences-1852-6-awful-ways-life-changes-when-you-never-go-through-puberty.html

Girls already have testosterone in their bodies - they just don't tend to have as much as boys.

Yes, a small amount which works alongside that (apparently unnecessary to you) other hormone oestrogen.

Testosterone alone will not allow a female body to develop as it should. It is vital that women who go through an early menopause for whatever reason are given certain treatments to stop their bones crumbling to dust. Children who have been put on puberty blockers for precocious puberty (rather than a perfectly normally developing puberty) still have been reported to have issues. A significant number of the female Olympic Athletes who were doping with testosterone in the 1980s are dead now.

I feel sick at this thread, is this real that people actually think this is perfectly OK? For children who have been told they are in 'the wrong body' can be treated in this way?

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6709704/

I know there’s probably a feeling that you’re going through the ‘right’ puberty

I understand that testosterone, regardless of the effect on the body, is also a mood enhancer. So this, along with the feeling relief at getting something yoi have been told you need, plus and element of regression to mean and placebo, would mean in the short term you are bound to feel better.

"We conducted a systematic literature review of all peer-reviewed articles published in English between 1991 and June 2017 that assess the effect of gender transition on transgender well-being. We identified 55 studies that consist of primary research on this topic, of which 51 (93%) found that gender transition improves the overall well-being of transgender people, while 4 (7%) report mixed or null findings. We found no studies concluding that gender transition causes overall harm."

"2. Among the positive outcomes of gender transition and related medical treatments for transgender individuals are improved quality of life, greater relationship satisfaction, higher self-esteem and confidence, and reductions in anxiety, depression, suicidality, and substance use."

"4. Regrets following gender transition are extremely rare and have become even rarer as both surgical techniques and social support have improved. Pooling data from numerous studies demonstrates a regret rate ranging from .3 percent to 3.8 percent. Regrets are most likely to result from a lack of social support after transition or poor surgical outcomes using older techniques."

"6. Transgender individuals, particularly those who cannot access treatment for gender dysphoria or who encounter unsupportive social environments, are more likely than the general population to experience health challenges such as depression, anxiety, suicidality and minority stress. While gender transition can mitigate these challenges, the health and well-being of transgender people can be harmed by stigmatizing and discriminatory treatment."

Well you know how trans girls taking estrogen grow boobs and develop hips and full bottoms etc? And you know how trans boys on testosterone grow beards and their voices break etc?

That's not 'puberty'.

Girls who never go through a female puberty will not have oestrogen in their female body to develop healthy bones and brains. How can you think this is OK, WTAF?!

Juliesipadwillcallyouback

Yes Julie. Who on earth would ignore the adverse effects that are already out there for effects of certain groups of drugs and surgeries on females to progress a narrative that seems to benefit on sex class over another?

Will any acknowledgement of these health risks to females be forth coming?

The psychological stress of not being affirmed

And yet neither PB or transitioning have been found to improve mental health. Quite the opposite.

No they don’t go through Puberty - that’s patently and scientifically wrong. What they go through after stopping Puberty Blockers (that have suppressed their own natural puberty), is a hormonal regime that brings about some hormonally-triggered secondary sexual characteristics that their own bodies could not have set in train. And then, to maintain some of these, they need to keep taking those cross-sex hormones. That’s not Puberty. You’re not suddenly going to induce menstruation in someone who doesn’t have a womb or ovaries for instance.

I know there’s probably a feeling that you’re going through the ‘right’ puberty but I would hope that no one actually prescribing these hormones are telling young people this. It’s a treatment that can alleviate gender dysphoria and a powerful one granted but it’s not actually puberty.

"Have you got a citation for that?"

Well you know how trans girls taking estrogen grow boobs and develop hips and full bottoms etc? And you know how trans boys on testosterone grow beards and their voices break etc?

"my understanding was that transwomen in particular often continued to take testosterone blocking medication lifelong?"

Trans women often take an anti-androgen until they have had an orchiectomy or vaginoplasty. But that's not the same thing as a puberty blocker. Often they just take Finasteride, which men can also get from their doctor to help prevent baldness. Having said that, many trans women never take an anti-androgen because the estrogen completely overwhelms the testosterone making it innefectual.