One neuropsychologist said he was barred from publishing his analysis of puberty blockers because reviewers “didn’t like the findings.”
Professor Sally Baxendale faced a backlash from critics when she challenged whether the effects of NHS treatment for gender dysphoria were completely reversible.
A consultant clinical neuropsychologist from London said he was shocked that there was no evidence that the cognitive effects of puberty blockers were fully reversible.
It comes after NHS England announced it would no longer routinely prescribe puberty blockers to children at gender identity clinics.
A neuropsychologist said he was banned from publishing his analysis of puberty blockers because reviewers “didn’t like the findings”
Getty/University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
The decision followed the publication of a review suggesting there was “not enough evidence” that they were safe or effective.
Ms Baxendale said she raised the alarm several years ago and was rejected by three magazines when she tried to publish book reviews on the subject.
“From a neuropsychological perspective, [pubertal suppression] It’s really interesting,” she told the Telegraph.
“We know that adolescence is a critical period in neurodevelopment, and we know that when adolescence is interrupted by other things, it impacts cognitive development.”
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She goes on to say, “People actually thought of puberty only in terms of genital development and physical changes. But from a neuropsychological perspective, puberty is very important for cognitive development. Puberty “The brain undergoes all kinds of changes,” he added.
Her analysis underwent anonymous peer review before publication, but she claims it was blocked.
She said: “The reasons for the refusal were highly unusual. One was that ‘this would further stigmatize an already stigmatized group’…The other was… [review] “They criticized me for using the words ‘male’ and ‘female’. . . . That was very different from all the other papers I had published.”
The professor, whose usual research area is epilepsy, said there were “significant questions” that “remain unanswered regarding the nature, extent and persistence of the arrest in cognitive development associated with puberty blockers”. .
The Cass Review, published last week by pediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, claimed young people with gender dysphoria are being “let down” by the NHS.
Cass review
Her research was finally published in February this year, but she said she had suffered online abuse, which she described as “extremely painful”.
The Cass Review, published last week by pediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, claimed that young people with gender dysphoria are being “let down” by the NHS, and that gender services for young people are “not being compared to other NHS standards of care”. “to be consistent with that.”
The report recommended stopping the administration of powerful hormones to children under 18 and called for “extreme caution” when caring for children under 25.
Mr Baxendale said he hoped the Cass review was a step in the right direction, adding: “It was clear that research needed to be built into the new service.
“These people have the same right to evidence-based care as anyone else.”
