FDA: Thousands of Deaths Associated With Drugs Given to ‘Trans’ Children – National Catholic Register
Posted: September 20, 2019 at 2:44 am
Fatal blood clots, suicidal behavior, lowered IQs, brittle bones and sterility are just a few of the potential side effects of puberty blockers that the transgender industry doesnt want talked about.
Thousands of children attending affirmative gender health clinics globally, including in the United States and the United Kingdom, are being given powerful puberty-blocking drugs with a litany of serious side effects including death according to Food and Drug Administration data.
And the National Health Service (NHS) in England is currently investigating issues surrounding use of the drugs since it registered a 4,500% increase last fall in the number of youths seeking treatments to alter their biological sex in the previous nine years.
The drugs, sometimes referred to as chemical castrators because they are used to treat sex offenders, are increasingly used as a first-line treatment for gender-confused children as young as 10 years old when they are referred to counseling.
Frequently on their first consultation, children and teens are implanted with hormone-blocker-releasing rods or taught to self-inject the drugs to pause their adolescence and prevent developmental changes, like growth of breasts and facial hair while they decide on which sex they would like to identify.
The practice recently gained the endorsement of the Endocrine Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics, but the Food and Drug Administration has not licensed the drugs for transgender medicine due to lack of supportive evidence. They are approved for treating prostate cancer and uterine pain in adults. The agency has recorded more than 41,000 adverse events reported with their use between 2013 and June 30, 2019.
More than 26,000 of the events associated with the two hormone blockers, Leuprolide acetate and triptorelin (which includes Lupron and similar drugs used by clinics), were classified by the federal agency as serious, including 6,370 deaths. The drugs, which dramatically lower testosterone and estrogen levels in the body, are linked to life-threatening blood clots and other complaints, include brittle bones and joint pain.
Inducing Disease
The recent increase in the number of gender dysphoric youths seeking drug treatments is particularly alarming to experts who see the drugs effects as too risky to prescribe in their current form if at all.
Michael Laidlaw, an endocrinologist from Rocklin, California, testified before the British House of Lords on the issue of transgender health care in May. Laidlaw told the Register, These drugs actually induce a known disease in previously hormonally healthy children.
Puberty blockers, he explained, interfere with normal signals between the brain and the sex organs, thereby creating a disease state called hypogonadotropic hypogonadism in youths. Its a serious condition that endocrinologists would normally diagnose and treat because it interferes with development, but in [gender dysphoria] cases theyre inducing this disease state, Laidlaw said.
Because the drugs are relatively new, their long-term effects have yet to be fully determined, but one 2018 study of long-term risks of puberty blockers from researchers at Boston Childrens Hospital found that while side effects of the drugs are advertised to resolve three-six months after stopping treatment, in actuality, the majority of subjects reported long-term side effects while almost one-third reported irreversible side effects that persisted for years after discontinuing treatment.
In addition to experts, those who have experienced the drugs effects are also raising the alarm.
On social-media platforms, women describe crippling long-term side effects after taking the drugs as children. One woman on a Facebook page called BAN Lupron said she was given Lupron for years as a young child to stop premature puberty, and now, as a 24-year-old mother of two, I have [a] herniated disc in my lower lumbar, S-I Joint dysfunction, [a] shredded meniscus in my right knee shoulder pain tendonitis in my left foot, extreme tooth decay and minimal teeth left, TMJ [jaw pain].
A 25-year-old said on the page that she suffers from osteoporosis and a cracked spine, while a 26-year-old indicated the need for a total hip replacement.
Youths who take puberty blockers complain of similar side effects and of menopausal symptoms, including hot flashes, insomnia, fatigue, rapid weight gain and depleted bone density.
I stubbed my toe; it broke. I fell over; my wrist broke. Same with my elbow, an anonymous teen, who was prescribed the drugs by the Tavistock NHS gender center, told the Times newspaper of London.
They promise you that your breasts will disappear, that your voice will be deeper, that I would look and sound more like a boy. For me, that was the best thing that could have happened, the teen said about her attitude at the time, but she came to call taking the drugs the worst decision Ive ever made.
Evolving Guidelines
These and similar complaints have come to the attention of some members of the medical community, who urge some kind of government oversight.
Yes, there can be poor or improper treatments by some; thus, governments as well as medical organizations should investigate reports of patient/family complaints in this regard, Michigan State University pediatrician Donald Greydanus told the Register. Greydanus is one of eight authors of a paper, published in the August issue of the journal Disease-a-Month, overviewing care of teens who identify as transgender.
Greydanus is not necessarily opposed to the use of castration drugs, but he acknowledges that prudence must still play a role in how they are administered especially since the drugs have a sketchy safety record.
Adolescents with gender dysphoria should not be started on puberty blockers until at least early adolescence, he said. Sex-affirming hormone therapy using high levels of hormones of the opposite sex may start soon after, and surgery by age 18, generally, but he said, These guidelines continue to evolve and to be debated!
Greydanus added that proper informed consent should let all parties know the drugs risks before they are given.
All drugs have side effects, he told the Register, and some can be worse in some patients versus others.
However, Laidlaw called the hormone-blocking drugs untested and unsafe for adolescent children. He referred to them as development blockers because their results are systemic and block normal brain development and a host of other body functions as well as sexual maturation.
Development is so stunted, he said. If you take these long-term, you wind up with an adult with child-like sex organs. If they are taken at a very early stage, they wont develop sperm. Permanent infertility is a possible outcome for those who use the drugs, he said.
Puberty is a time of tremendous growth and not just in the gonads, he said, noting that bone formation is also taking place at this time. They are lengthening as well as strengthening.
The effects of the drugs on bone density are well-documented, Laidlaw said. By the end of two years the bone density of the girls [taking puberty blockers] is down in the lowest 3%.
Mental-Health Concerns
According to guidelines from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, children must be screened for underlying mental issues. Yet a Freedom of Information request filed by Oxford sociologist Michael Biggs revealed that nearly one-third of the children treated at one clinic in Britain had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
Besides putting patients with pre-existing mental conditions at risk, the drugs also seem to be having a deleterious effect on young patients developing mental capacities, studies have shown.
Puberty is also a time of tremendous brain changes, when gray matter becomes denser which may explain why puberty blockers have been found to lower IQ.
One 2016 study found that girls treated with puberty blockers had an eight-point lower IQ score than controls who did not receive the treatment. This was similar to the seven-point IQ drop from 100 to 93 reported among 25 girls who took puberty blockers for two years for early puberty and a nine-point IQ drop in a study of a 12-year-old boy 28 months after taking the blockers.
Proponents of the drugs claim the effects are reversible, but we dont know what will happen in all the cases, Laidlaw said.
But the mental damage may be even more serious than a drop in IQ for patients.
Concerns about the impact of puberty-blocking drugs on the mental health of youths were raised in England when Biggs uncovered the unpublished results of a study by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trusts Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS).
Although the results for using puberty blockers had been reported to the public as positive, Biggs found that for all but one yardstick (that of parents perspective) the outcomes were negative and that a significant increase was found in the number of drug-treated youths who agreed with the statement: I deliberately try to hurt or kill self.
Transgender Censorship
But even scientific evidence pointing to the risks of castration drugs doesnt seem to matter to the cultural gatekeepers who wish to see transgenderism normalized in society.
Demand for the drugs as puberty blockers has skyrocketed with government-sponsored and cultural transgender programming, including television shows like I Am Jazz, an American reality TV following Florida teen Jazz Jennings, who was born male but took hormones and was surgically castrated to appear female. And the market for the drug has a potential to expand further, as gender science is extending to transgender preschool children.
With such positive reinforcement of transgenderism in culture, criticism of treatment for gender dysphoria is increasingly banned as harmful and transphobic. The same tendency toward censorship also surfaced recently in state legislation. Last month, North Carolina became the 18th state to ban the use of taxpayer dollars for any conversion therapy practices that seek to help transgender children overcome their confusion without drugs and surgery.
Experts in the field are also not immune to such censorship. Laidlaw told the Register that as an endocrinologist, he tweeted on July 21 about the dangers of puberty blockers but his tweet was deleted by Twitter last month, and he has been unable to post on the platform since.
Likewise, when Biggs revealed the unpublished GIDS report to the British press, the Oxford professors Twitter account was reportedly suspended for transphobic statements.
Catholic Teaching
Aside from the medical risks involved with castration drugs, the principle driving their promotion flies in the face of Catholic teaching on human sexuality.
Pope Francis addressed the issue of transgenderism in his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si (Care for Our Common Home), citing the words of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, that man too has a nature that he must respect and that he cannot manipulate at will.
Man, Benedict said inhis September 2011 address to the German Parliament, does not create himself. He is intellect and will, but he is also nature, and his will is rightly ordered if he respects his nature, listens to it and accepts himself for who he is, as one who did not create himself.
[V]aluing ones own body in its femininity or masculinity is necessary if I am going to be able to recognize myself in an encounter with someone who is different, Pope Francis added. In this way we can joyfully accept the specific gifts of another man or woman, the work of God the Creator, and find mutual enrichment.
Celeste McGovern writes from Nova Scotia, Canada.
See the original post:
FDA: Thousands of Deaths Associated With Drugs Given to 'Trans' Children - National Catholic Register
- Hormone therapy: Is it right for you? - Mayo Clinic [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2015] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2015]
- LifeXmd :: Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy Center [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2015] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2015]
- Bioidentical hormones: Are they safer? - Mayo Clinic [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2015] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2015]
- Diabetes and Hormone Center of the Pacific [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2015] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2015]
- Hormone Replacement Clinic | Topeka & Lawrence KS [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2015] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2015]
- Integrative Health and Hormone Clinic Cedar Rapids, IA [Last Updated On: May 31st, 2015] [Originally Added On: May 31st, 2015]
- Hormone Center - Home [Last Updated On: May 31st, 2015] [Originally Added On: May 31st, 2015]
- How Are Hormones And Anxiety Related? - Calm Clinic [Last Updated On: June 13th, 2015] [Originally Added On: June 13th, 2015]
- Women's Mood & Hormone Clinic / Moms Program | UCSF ... [Last Updated On: July 3rd, 2015] [Originally Added On: July 3rd, 2015]
- Dallas Anti Aging Clinic for Men | Male Hormone ... [Last Updated On: July 3rd, 2015] [Originally Added On: July 3rd, 2015]
- Hormone clinic to open - News Sentinel Story [Last Updated On: July 10th, 2015] [Originally Added On: July 10th, 2015]
- Male Hormone Replacement - Testosterone - The Turek Clinic [Last Updated On: August 1st, 2015] [Originally Added On: August 1st, 2015]
- Bio-Identical Hormones & Women's Services at Dr. Wright's ... [Last Updated On: August 21st, 2015] [Originally Added On: August 21st, 2015]
- HGH Therapy | HGH Clinics | Human Growth Hormone Therapy [Last Updated On: August 24th, 2015] [Originally Added On: August 24th, 2015]
- Long Island Hormone Therapy Clinic NY, Anti-Aging Clinics ... [Last Updated On: September 25th, 2015] [Originally Added On: September 25th, 2015]
- Home - Seattle Hormone Replacement Clinic for Men [Last Updated On: September 25th, 2015] [Originally Added On: September 25th, 2015]
- Medical Weight Loss Clinic of Utah - Hormone Replacement ... [Last Updated On: September 29th, 2015] [Originally Added On: September 29th, 2015]
- What are Hormones? - Hormone Replacement Therapy Denver [Last Updated On: October 4th, 2015] [Originally Added On: October 4th, 2015]
- Human growth hormone (HGH): Does it slow aging? - Mayo Clinic [Last Updated On: October 9th, 2015] [Originally Added On: October 9th, 2015]
- Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy - Amen Clinics [Last Updated On: October 12th, 2015] [Originally Added On: October 12th, 2015]
- HD Medspa & Clinic | Lakeview Neighborhood, Chicago, for ... [Last Updated On: October 18th, 2015] [Originally Added On: October 18th, 2015]
- Denver Hormone Therapy | Denver Hormone Health [Last Updated On: April 8th, 2016] [Originally Added On: April 8th, 2016]
- Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy for Men and Women ... [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2016] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2016]
- The Endocrine Clinic | Singapore Hormone Specialists [Last Updated On: June 5th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 5th, 2016]
- San Antonio Natural Hormone Therapy Clinic | Bio-Identical ... [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2016]
- Does hormone replacement medication ... - Lindora Clinic [Last Updated On: June 30th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 30th, 2016]
- FEMME CLINIQUE - Bio-Identical Hormone Therapy Clinic ... [Last Updated On: June 30th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 30th, 2016]
- Dr Colin Holloway | Managing hormone imbalances [Last Updated On: July 2nd, 2016] [Originally Added On: July 2nd, 2016]
- melatonin hormone - University of Maryland Medical Center [Last Updated On: July 7th, 2016] [Originally Added On: July 7th, 2016]
- Human chorionic gonadotropin - Wikipedia, the free ... [Last Updated On: July 20th, 2016] [Originally Added On: July 20th, 2016]
- Talk to Nurse Rita - Health, Nursing & Clinic Matters [Last Updated On: July 24th, 2016] [Originally Added On: July 24th, 2016]
- NATESTO (testosterone) Nasal Gel CIII | Prescriber Site [Last Updated On: August 24th, 2016] [Originally Added On: August 24th, 2016]
- Home : Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine [Last Updated On: September 18th, 2016] [Originally Added On: September 18th, 2016]
- Ageing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Last Updated On: September 21st, 2016] [Originally Added On: September 21st, 2016]
- Melatonin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Last Updated On: September 24th, 2016] [Originally Added On: September 24th, 2016]
- Hormone Replacement Clinic in NJ | Healthy Aging Medical ... [Last Updated On: October 11th, 2016] [Originally Added On: October 11th, 2016]
- UT Southwestern, Dallas, Texas - UTSW Medicine (Patient ... [Last Updated On: October 15th, 2016] [Originally Added On: October 15th, 2016]
- Clinical Guidelines and Recommendations | Agency for ... [Last Updated On: November 15th, 2016] [Originally Added On: November 15th, 2016]
- Hormone Replacement Therapy | Born Clinic [Last Updated On: November 22nd, 2016] [Originally Added On: November 22nd, 2016]
- Medical Weight Loss | Endocrinology & Hormone Replacement [Last Updated On: November 25th, 2016] [Originally Added On: November 25th, 2016]
- West Coast Womens Clinic - Vancouver Womens Health Clinic [Last Updated On: November 28th, 2016] [Originally Added On: November 28th, 2016]
- Prolactin - Wikipedia [Last Updated On: December 11th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 11th, 2016]
- Worrying about Anti Mullerian Hormones? | Baby Hopeful [Last Updated On: December 19th, 2016] [Originally Added On: December 19th, 2016]
- Risk of Pregnancy Loss in Subclinical Hypothyroidism - Endocrinology Advisor [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Public invited to women's clinic opening in New Albany - Evening News and Tribune [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Thyroid Hormone Therapy for Subclinical Hypothyroidism in Pregnancy - Medical News Bulletin [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Transgender youth in Alberta need more than 1 part-time clinic, says new campaign - CBC.ca [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- BRUCKNER: UNL a national model for trans, LGBT care - Daily Nebraskan [Last Updated On: February 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 8th, 2017]
- Hospital in Somerset becomes first in NJ to open LGBTQ health center - New Jersey 101.5 FM Radio [Last Updated On: February 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 8th, 2017]
- Four NIH-backed projects aim to advance the artificial pancreas - MobiHealthNews [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- In Transition: Physical transitions can include hormone treatment, surgery - The Baylor Lariat [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Amphetamine use may 'speed up' heart aging - Medical News Today [Last Updated On: February 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 11th, 2017]
- Nationwide Planned Parenthood protests energize patients, opponents - SFGate [Last Updated On: February 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 11th, 2017]
- Women's wellness: Understanding hypothyroidism and pregnancy - The Killeen Daily Herald [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2017]
- How This Police Officer Is Helping Trans Patients Get Better Care - Refinery29 [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- Most cases of thyroid cancer are curable - Post-Bulletin [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- Is hormone melatonin the link between sleep and breast cancer? - Knowridge Science Report [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2017]
- In West Africa, clinics confront suspicion, and husbands, one IUD at a time - STAT [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2017]
- 'Speed' and other recreational stimulants tied to heart damage - Fox News [Last Updated On: February 16th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 16th, 2017]
- Research shows balancing hormones can aid weight loss - WLS-TV [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2017]
- These transgender patients now have a place to change their lives all at once - Miami Herald [Last Updated On: February 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 20th, 2017]
- Healthy eating, the Hyman way - Durham Herald Sun [Last Updated On: February 21st, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 21st, 2017]
- Balancing hormones and weight loss - UPMatters.com [Last Updated On: February 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 23rd, 2017]
- Have You Heard of These 5 Heart Attack Risk Factors? - Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic (blog) [Last Updated On: February 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 23rd, 2017]
- Feeling stressed? Try these proven methods for chilling out - Los Angeles Times [Last Updated On: February 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 23rd, 2017]
- Mother & Son Swap Sexes At The Same Time! - Radar Online [Last Updated On: February 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 23rd, 2017]
- The truth about why some men get sleepy after sex | Fox News - Fox News [Last Updated On: February 25th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 25th, 2017]
- Wellness experts use hormone balancing to fight obesity - WNDU-TV [Last Updated On: February 25th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 25th, 2017]
- These transgender patients now have a place to change their lives all at once - San Angelo Standard Times [Last Updated On: February 25th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 25th, 2017]
- Obese couples may take longer to conceive - Fox News [Last Updated On: March 1st, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 1st, 2017]
- Even More Reason to Kick That Sedentary Lifestyle - LifeZette [Last Updated On: March 1st, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 1st, 2017]
- What Happens When Your Immune System Gets Stressed Out? - Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic (blog) [Last Updated On: March 1st, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 1st, 2017]
- Boutique Egg Freezing Clinics Are the Latest Trend for Those Looking to Delay Parenthood - Babble (blog) [Last Updated On: March 2nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 2nd, 2017]
- Municipal Hospital System Opens NYC's First Public Clinic Offering Gender-Reassignment Surgery - NY1 [Last Updated On: March 2nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 2nd, 2017]
- Walking has many Health Benefit - Plainview Daily Herald [Last Updated On: March 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 3rd, 2017]
- Isoflavones in food associated with reduced mortality for women with some breast cancers - Tufts Now [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2017]
- Planned Parenthood New York Now Offers Transgender Hormone Replacement Therapy - The Mary Sue [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2017]
- Doctor Allie International Hormone Success Doctor Joins the ... - Satellite PR News (press release) [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2017]
- Hormone Therapy Clinic | Human Growth Hormone ... [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2017]
- Dubai clinic offering free fertility tests for women throughout March ... - Emirates 24|7 [Last Updated On: March 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 8th, 2017]