"There is no evidence" for this because "there is no evidence" because no-one has seriously looked for evidence!
The UK’s NHS describes gender dysphoria as “a term that describes a sense of unease that a person may have because of a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity. This sense of unease or dissatisfaction may be so intense it can lead to depression and anxiety and have a harmful impact on daily life”.
Some of my recent posts, and now this one, have made reference to AI (artificial intelligence) and what it is prepared to tell us about the patient harm (or dis-ease) caused by pharmaceutical drugs and vaccines. The issue of gender dysphoria, when someone’s gender identity does not align with their sex at birth, and the issue of ‘transitioning’, is another (very controversial) condition that has arisen in recent years.
I first wrote about sexual dysphoria in “Transgender. Sexual Identity. What role are pharmaceutical drugs playing in this? in January 2017 - over 8 years ago. It referenced three articles from the Rxisk website that raised the issue, and spoke specifically about SSRI antidepressants.
“Given what we know about enduring sexual problems caused by SSRIs, it is reasonable to wonder how a prenatal or childhood exposure would affect a person’s long-term development and functioning. No studies have ever been done to investigate whether children exposed to psychotropic drugs either directly, or during pregnancy, grow up to have an unaffected sexuality.”
Then in 2022, in my article “Gender Dysphoria, Sexual Orientation and Pharmaceutical Drugs” I wrote about a homeopathic colleague who had linked Risperidone (an antipsychotic drug) to sexual identity. The known and published adverse reactions to Risperidone include many that relate to sexual identity, this quote taken from the Drug.com website.
“Check with your doctor if you have breast swelling or soreness, unusual breast milk production, absent, missed, or irregular menstrual periods, stopping of menstrual bleeding, loss in sexual ability, desire, drive, or performance, decreased interest in sexual intercourse, or an inability to have or keep an erection”.
So what does artificial intelligence (AI) think about the question of a link with adverse pharmaceutical drug reactions? This is is the answer I received:
“While no specific pharmaceutical drugs are known to directly cause gender dysphoria, certain medications can influence gender identity or exacerbate feelings of dysphoria in individuals already experiencing it. Here are some relevant points:
Hormonal Treatments. Medications like testosterone or estrogen are used in gender-affirming hormone therapy. For some individuals, these treatments can alleviate dysphoria, while for others, they may lead to feelings of discomfort if the individual is not ready for such changes.
Puberty Blockers: Drugs such as gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues are used to delay puberty in transgender youth. While they do not cause dysphoria, they provide time for individuals to explore their gender identity without the pressure of developing secondary sex characteristics.
Substance Abuse: Some studies suggest a link between gender dysphoria and substance abuse, where individuals may use drugs or alcohol to cope with their distress. This can complicate their mental health and exacerbate feelings of dysphoria.
The AI response concluded that “there are no specific drugs that cause gender dysphoria, but certain medications can impact individuals’ experiences of their gender identity” . This is probably accurate, but as with my recent article on aggression and violence, it is an incomplete answer.
Yet the ‘incompleteness’ of the link between gender dysphoria and pharma drugs is probably more to do with the availability of information rather than an instruction or and unwillingness to recognise and accept it.
“There is no evidence!”
What we know about any pharmaceutical drug or vaccine is a painfully slow process. Our knowledge about drugs comes in slow motion. There is usually a lengthy time delay between the Pharmaceutical company launches a “safe and effective” drug to when we discover it is not!
When drug companies produce a new drug or vaccine they are obliged to (at least) go through the motions of testing it for both effectiveness and safety. They have always done so reluctantly, and it has become increasingly obvious over recent decades that the industry restricts drug/vaccine testing both in its scope (what it will test for) and in the time it allows (how long it waits for ‘side effects’ to materialise). In large part this is because they do not wish to discover too many ‘negative’ results through drug testing - it might be bad for sales!
So does the drug testing process go as far as testing for gender dysphoria? It is most unlikely. Perhaps it is unreasonable even to expect that it should (which is one of the reasons I have always avoided taking any pharmaceutical drug or vaccine). The medical establishment may tell us their drugs are “safe and effective” but we should never assume that they are. In this case “there is no evidence” because “there is no evidence” and no-one has bothered to look for any!
For evidence to emerge we have to wait until a drug or vaccine actually causes serious patient harm. Then we have to wait for the harm is reported in sufficient numbers. Then we have to wait for drug regulators to take action to protect patients. And this has become a hopelessly delayed process.
When we are told “There is no evidence” it means just that, and no more. However, conventional medicine usually use this statement to suggest that the link between drug and condition does not exist.
It is essential for those experiencing gender dysphoria to seek professional guidance for appropriate treatment options”.
In a moment that marks a historic rupture with more than a decade of ideologically driven medical policy, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today formally declared that so-called “gender-affirming care” for minors constitutes chemical and surgical mutilation—and will no longer be permitted, funded, or protected by the federal government.
This is right - but the prior question is - what is causing the desire to ‘transition’ is so many children and young people? Evidence is beginning to emerge. Research by Shanna Swan, an environmental and reproductive epidemiologist, suggests that prenatal exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals can blur physiological and behavioural sex differences in offspring. One scientist said:
“I think the science should be done, but with an appreciation and understanding of how it can be manipulated in political ways”.
