National Detransitioners Awareness Day is March 12, Let’s Talk About Hormones
We live in world where it is easier for a 15 year old girl to get a testosterone prescription from a traditional doctor, covered by insurance, than a hypogonadal adult male. You know, because equity…. Before digging into this let’s take a look at the importance of male and female hormones and the current medical landscape.
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We know that testosterone levels and sperm count in men has been in a rapid decline for decades. There is a lot of evidence pointing to plastics and diet. There are also some theories on radiofrequency with the rise of cellular communication in the early 2000s (the most significant period of decline starting in the same time frame).
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We also know that low testosterone causes a plethora of negative health implications for men including anemia, osteopenia/osteoporosis, autoimmune disorders, brain fog and memory problems, obesity, heart and cardiovascular problems (particularly related to increased body fat), fatigue, and psychological conditions including depression (testosterone plays a role in boosting dopamine). “Normal” or at least, not low, testosterone levels are essential for all men to have the best chance at a healthy and joyful life.
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This brings us to the question of what is normal, and this is where things start to get interesting. Until recently the “normal” testosterone range for an adult male was considered 348-1197 ng/dl (LabCorp). In July 2017 LabCorp changed this to 264-916 ng/dl depending on the lab. This is because the reference range was never about what is optimum or what is not. It was based on a national average that has been steadily declining.
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Why would they lower the standard based on a declining national average? Equity. This is what equity in medicine looks like, and should scare the pants off of all of us. You’ll accept mediocrity and you’ll be happy about.
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And guess what else, it saves the insurance companies a whole bunch of money. In order for insurance companies to approve payment, rather than looking at symptoms they require two consistent lab tests below the bottom of the range. So prior to 2017 insurance had to pay if below 348 ng/dl, but now the test must be much lower (<264 ng/dl) to get the insurance companies to dish out any money. On top of this there is a stigma from bodybuilder steroid abuse in the medical field that additionally makes many doctors skittish in prescribing testosterone to men even when they exhibit all the symptoms of low levels (but teenage girls no problem). In fairness there are plenty of tele-health anti-aging clinics on the cutting edge of hormone therapy that understand this failure of the medical system, however patients will have to pay out of pocket (not an option for those underserved groups we are always hearing about).
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Now if a teenage girl wants a testosterone prescription, that’s a piece of cake. The Affordable Care Act and recent revision to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include “gender identity” make it very difficult for an insurance company to refuse payment for cross sex hormones. Doing so could result in lawsuits and defamation (being accused of discrimination against a protected class on the intersectional hierarchy, like “transgender” is a woke corporation’s worst nightmare).
We’ve looked at the life destroying impact of low testosterone in the male body, so hopefully that paints a picture of just how horrific the side effects of giving female hormones to a male might be. Low testosterone is an awful condition for a grown male, but just imagine what happens to a pubescent teenager deprived of testosterone. Now lets look at the how equally important (possibly even more so) female hormones are to women’s bodies.
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The female hormonal system consists of 4 primary hormones, Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), Luteinizing Hormone (LH), estrogen, and progesterone. Note that males do require low levels of these hormones, just as the female body does require very low levels of testosterone.
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FSH, LH, estrogen, and progesterone are essential to maintaining female reproductive health and cycles. Low progesterone can lead to infertility, chronic headaches, obesity and inability to lose weight, heart and cardiovascular conditions due to high body fat, severe depression, and other conditions. Low estrogen additionally may cause high cholesterol, pre-diabetic conditions, migraines, fatigues, osteoporosis, skin conditions, night sweats, and breast pain. It can also cause brain fog in women similar to low testosterone in men.
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Without these hormones during puberty, not only will the female reproductive system fail to properly form to be capable of bearing children, but the child will have a life-long future of pain and suffering from all the other conditions that result from hormone deficiency. As adults when our hormones are out of balance, thanks to modern medicine, we likely have the option to take exogenous hormones that will bring us back to balance and feeling great. When a child blocks their biological hormones and takes hormones for the opposite sex, the damage is irreversible and will lead to shortened life of depression and a host of physical problems.
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Disclaimer – I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice. It doesn’t take a doctorate degree to know these things. It is simple research and common sense. Any doctor who prescribes cross sex hormones has violated the Hippocratic oath. Any doctor who prescribes cross sex hormones or puberty blockers to a minor is a criminal predator.
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VA Overwatch Contributor, Tim Smith