ISLAMABAD, June 12 (ABC): Dr. Miguel Saraiva, endocrinologist at Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Porto – Hospital de Santo António, Portugal, told Medical News Today: “We have to understand that being transgender is not an illness. As cisgender people do, transgender people also know who they are. It is their identity and one can not change that.”
“We have to start listening to these patients and educate ourselves about their health needs and about gender-affirming medical interventions,” he stressed.
In late May 2022, Dr. Saraiva presented his research at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Milan, Italy regarding the value of gene-affirming hormone therapy.
An increasing number of transgender and nonbinary people, according to Dr. Saraiva, have been seeking treatment to resolve conflicts between their gender identity and the sex assigned to them at birth.
The Portuguese researchers found that people who had undergone gene-affirming hormone therapy reported high levels of satisfaction with the psychological and physiological results.
Dr. Saraiva noted that “[t]his therapy seems to significantly enhance self-esteem, body well-being, and social/ familial relations and to reduce suicidal ideation, having an overall great impact on the quality of life.”
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Gender dysphoria
The National Health Service in the United Kingdom describes gender dysphoria as the “sense of unease that a person may have because of a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity.”
Gender dysphoria is increasingly commonTrusted Source among adolescents. And according to one 2019 studyTrusted Source, “[g]ender dysphoric patients are at significant risk for psychiatric comorbidities and suicidal ideation and attempts.”
“It is crucial that primary care providers be aware of and diligently evaluate these risks, regardless of treatment status. A collaborative, multidisciplinary approach can help care for this vulnerable population and avoid tragic outcomes,” the study emphasizes.
Dr. Saraiva recalled his first transgender pediatric patient: “I will never forget the look of relief on the eyes of that patient when I said we were going to stop their puberty.“
“It is important,” Dr. Saraiva underscored, “that these adolescents have regular psychology/ pedopsychiatry appointments with experienced professionals in this field.”