A neuropsychologist says she was prohibited from publishing her analysis on puberty blockers because reviewers “did not like the findings”.
Professor Sallie Baxendale challenged whether the effects of NHS treatment for gender dysphoria were wholly reversible – but was faced with backlash from critics.
The consultant clinical neuropsychologist in London said she was shocked to find an absence of evidence showing that the cognitive effects of puberty blockers were fully reversible.
It comes after NHS England announced that children will no longer routinely be prescribed puberty blockers at gender identity clinics.
A neuropsychologist says she was prohibited from publishing her analysis on puberty blockers because reviewers ‘did not like the findings’
Getty/ University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
The decision follows the release of a review which suggested there was “not enough evidence” they are safe or effective.
Baxendale said she raised the alarm several years ago but when she tried to publish her review on the subject, it was rejected by three journals.
“From a neuropsychology point of view, [pubertal suppression] is really interesting,” she told The Telegraph.
“We know that puberty is an important time in neurodevelopment, and we know that when it gets interrupted by other things, there are impacts on cognitive development.”
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She added: “People were really looking at puberty just from the development of sex organs and physical changes. But from a neuropsychological perspective, puberty is really important for cognitive development – in adolescence, the brain undergoes all sorts of changes.”
When her analysis was subject to an anonymous peer review before publication, she claims it was blocked.
She said: “The reasons given for rejecting it were quite extraordinary. One was ‘this will stigmatise an already stigmatised group’… One [review] criticised me for using the terms ‘male’ and female.’… That’s what was so, so different compared to all the other papers I’ve published.”
The professor – whose usual area of research is epilepsy – said there are “critical questions” which “remain unanswered regarding the nature, extent and permanence of any arrested development of cognitive function associated with puberty blocker”.
The Cass Review, published by paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass last week, claimed young people with gender dysphoria have been ‘let down’ by the NHS
Cass Review
Her research was eventually released in February this year but she suffered abuse online which she described as “quite distressing”.
The Cass Review, published by paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass last week, claimed young people with gender dysphoria have been “let down” by the NHS, and has called for gender services for young people to “match the standards of other NHS care”.
The report recommended an end to giving powerful hormone drugs to under-18s and urged “extreme caution” when caring for under-25s.
Baxendale hopes the Cass Review is a step in the right direction, she added: “It was really clear that research needs to be embedded into the new services.
“These people deserve the same as everybody else: evidence-based care.”
Source Agencies
