NEW DELHI New Delhi: The skeletons of men and women differ in shape and proportions. For example, men generally have broad shoulders while women have broad pelvises. According to new research, skeletal shape can be changed by gender-affirming hormone therapy only if puberty has also been suppressed during adolescence. The study, presented at the European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology meeting in Liverpool and conducted by the Amsterdam University Medical Center (UMC) in the Netherlands, has not only helped researchers understand the role of sex hormones on the skeleton, but also gender-affirming treatments in transgender individuals. But counseling can also be improved.
Gender-affirming hormones are used to better align a person's physical appearance with his or her gender identity. Additionally, puberty blockers can be used to delay or prevent puberty-associated changes in transgender youth. However, what effect sex hormones have on the skeleton, such as the shoulders and pelvis, of transgender individuals is still unclear.
To investigate this, researchers at Amsterdam UMC analyzed data on the shoulder and pelvic dimensions of 121 transgender women and 122 transgender men who were undergoing either gender-affirming hormone therapy – with previously taking puberty blockers or Without – or who had not received any therapy. The researchers found that only transgender men who were treated with puberty blockers from the onset of puberty, followed by hormone therapy, had broader shoulders and a smaller pelvic inlet (the upper opening of the pelvis) than untreated individuals. while transgender women's shoulders were smaller after treatment as early as puberty. Additionally, the pelvis of transgender women under treatment was larger, but this change was most noticeable in those who had started to stop puberty earlier.
“To our knowledge, this is the first study to explore the effect of both gender-affirming hormones and puberty blockers on pelvic dimensions,” said Lidewij Boogers, a PhD student at Amsterdam UMC who led the study. “Since individuals who initiated puberty suppression early in puberty had skeletal dimensions similar to those of gender-affirmed gender, our findings suggest that irreversible skeletal changes occur during puberty,” Boogers said. The researchers will further assess the extent to which the physical changes that occur during puberty suppression and gender-affirming hormones affect body image and quality of life in transgender adolescents.
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