494

Trans youth will no longer be prescribed puberty blockers, NHS England says (www.thepinknews.com)

submitted 8 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

216 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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”.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee 126 points 8 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.

[-] TIMMAY@lemmy.world 11 points 8 months ago

Thank you for your reply! This is good information

[-] _edge@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 8 months ago

That's why I browse Lemmy. Thank you.

[+] DarkroomDoc@lemmy.sdf.org -44 points 8 months ago

refers to self as provider

Definitely not a doctor.

[-] TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee 16 points 8 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.

[+] DarkroomDoc@lemmy.sdf.org -13 points 8 months ago

The AMA literally says the opposite:

https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/a-23-omss-resolution-5.pdf

The only people pushing “provider” are administrators who would prefer to muddy the waters with regards to who providers care, and the midlevels who benefit.

[-] TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee 14 points 8 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.org -8 points 8 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.ee 7 points 8 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.world 2 points 8 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.

this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2024

494 points (96.1% liked)

World News

39144 readers

1565 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Rule 1: posts have the following requirements:
- Post news articles only
- Video links are NOT articles and will be removed.
- Title must match the article headline
- Not United States Internal News
- Recent (Past 30 Days)
- Screenshots/links to other social media sites (Twitter/X/Facebook/Youtube/reddit, etc.) are explicitly forbidden, as are link shorteners.
Rule 2: Do not copy the entire article into your post. The key points in 1-2 paragraphs is allowed (even encouraged!), but large segments of articles posted in the body will result in the post being removed. If you have to stop and think "Is this fair use?", it probably isn't. Archive links, especially the ones created on link submission, are absolutely allowed but those that avoid paywalls are not.
Rule 3: Opinions articles, or Articles based on misinformation/propaganda may be removed. Sources that have a Low or Very Low factual reporting rating or MBFC Credibility Rating may be removed.
Rule 4: Posts or comments that are homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist, anti-religious, or ableist will be removed. “Ironic” prejudice is just prejudiced.
Posts and comments must abide by the lemmy.world terms of service UPDATED AS OF 10/19
Rule 5: Keep it civil. It's OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It's NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

Rule 6: Memes, spam, other low effort posting, reposts, misinformation, advocating violence, off-topic, trolling, offensive, regarding the moderators or meta in content may be removed at any time.
Rule 7: We didn't USED to need a rule about how many posts one could make in a day, then someone posted NINETEEN articles in a single day. Not comments, FULL ARTICLES. If you're posting more than say, 10 or so, consider going outside and touching grass. We reserve the right to limit over-posting so a single user does not dominate the front page.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.