A new study finds that transgender women may actually experience physical health benefits from undergoing transition-related surgery compared to those who only use hormone therapy.
Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center sought to investigate whether it’s true that transgender women face a greater risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Previous research has suggested that using the female hormone estrogen can lead to high blood pressure and other health risks. The latest results suggest that the conclusion may be backwards — that it’s the ongoing high levels of testosterone that contribute to poor metabolic health.
The study compared trans women who were only using hormone therapy to those who had undergone a bilateral orchiectomy — the surgical removal of both their testicles, the body’s testosterone factories. Those who had undergone the surgery were in better health, while those who still had higher levels of testosterone had greater insulin resistance and greater accumulation of fat in the liver.
Though the study was small, it adds to the growing evidence that transgender people can benefit from steps they take to transition their body to match their gender identity. This may help further convince insurance companies that continue to impose exclusions on covering such treatments.
That’s not to say, however, that every trans woman should undergo such surgery. As the 2011 National Transgender Discrimination Survey found, many transgender people do not pursue surgical transitions for a number of reasons. Some simply cannot afford it, some do not feel it is a risk they need to feel complete in their gender identity, and others do not want to sacrifice their reproductive ability. Of the trans-feminine respondents, 14 percent said they did not want an orchiectomy, with another 61 percent saying they wanted it someday, but only 25 percent reported that they had already had it.
The latest results also counter claims by opponents of transgender equality that such surgery is detrimental to transgender people’s well-being. These conservatives frequently cite a study from Sweden that they claim demonstrates that suicide rates increased for transgender women after they underwent surgery. The study actually does not support that conclusion at all, and Cristan Williams of TransAdvocate recently interviewed its lead researcher, Cecilia Dhejne, to verify.
“Yes! It’s very frustrating!” Dhejne said of the misrepresentations of her study. She emphatically clarified, “No, the study does not show that medical transition results in suicide or suicidal ideation. The study explicitly states that such is not the case and those using this study to make that claim are using fallacious logic.”
The results of the study finding benefits for trans women who undergo bilateral orchiectomy were first presented at the American Physiological Society’s conference on Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolic Diseases: Physiology and Gender.