Please read Part 1 for the full context of this story. I’d like to share a few more data points with you about the impact our gut microbiome has on our health, specifically on our mental health. I’ve listed several sections of paper linked below:
The role of gut microbiota in the gut-brain axis: Current challenges and perspectives
Xiao Chen, Roshan D’Souza, Seong-Tshool Hong BDRD Research Institute, JINIS Biopharmaceuticals Inc, 948-9 Dunsan, Bongdong, Wanju, Chonbuk 565-902, South Korea Department of Microbiology and Genetics and Institute for Medical Science, Chonbuk National University Medical School,
From the introduction:
"The human intestine contains a massive and complex microbial community called gut microbiota. A typical human carries 100 trillion microbes in the body, referred to as microbiota, microflora, or normal flora (Zimmer, 2010). Particularly, the collection of intestinal microorganisms along the GI tract, gut microbiota, has been known to be essential to the health and well-being of the host. Thus, the composition of gut microbiota and its role on human health and disease became a booming area of research, presenting a new paradigm of opportunities for medical and food applications.”
“It has been known that the failure in functional interactions between host and gut microbiota results in GI tract disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), GI tract malignancies, cholelithiasis, etc (Eckburg et al., 2005). Recent studies further revealed that the altered compositions of gut microbiota in the host are associated with more complicated diseases such as behavior disorders and metabolic disorders. Examples are various, including autism, hepatic encephalopathy, allergy, obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis, etc. Statistical analysis on the variations in the composition of gut microbiota and following biological experiments proved that the relationship between gut microbiota and humans is not merely commensal, but rather a mutualistic relationship. It is now clear that gut microbiota contributes significantly to host physiology and phenotypes such as nutritional uptake and well-being, obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, behavior, various neurological diseases, etc (Bercik et al., 2012).”
Behavioral disorders and their relation to the gut microbiome is a fascinating area of research. Think of all of the behavioral conditions you see friends and family deal with. Some of the many behavioral disorders on the rise in modern times (the last 20 years or so) include autism spectrum disorder, sensory processing disorder, gender dysphoria, depression, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The research paper above links gut health to behavioral disorders and that makes sense based on other studies I’ve read. My journey of discovery started in the soil. Having a base understanding of microbes there certainly helps me appreciate how they operate in the human body although it does not qualify me as an expert.
I think researchers need to dig deeper into the causation of behavioral disorders to see how they relate to the gut microbiome. The paper linked above discusses how important testing technology is in determining the type and population of specific gut microbes. We need to know which microbes live in our gut so that we can know what does what. Since generational gut health is declining we might perceive that a young human was born with a disorder rather than understanding that poor gut health (missing gut microbes) in early development and early life may have caused the disorder.
If we assume that something as life-changing as gender dysphoria is just how one is born rather than a condition caused by generational microbiome degradation, incomplete and diminished quality of our diet, chemical exposure in our diet, antibiotic abuse, and incomplete transmission of the microbiome to infants via lifestyle/career choices of mothers we might not even see it as a problem that can be corrected early on. I would imagine gender dysphoria isn’t a pleasant thing to experience. Not feeling like your mind matches your body is a horrible thought to contemplate. I’d feel trapped. I think it would feel disabling. It would be a real shame if we neglect to find out what causes any behavioral disorder in the name of love and acceptance.
All of the focus seems to be invested in hormone therapy and gender reassignment/affirmation surgery instead of figuring out what causes this modern phenomenon. All indications point to a massive increase in treatment for gender dysphoria in children 6-17 but don’t take my word for it. Please read this article for more information on the topic. Healthcare providers are helping young children and teens with access to life-altering and permanent hormone therapy and surgery.
As more transgender children seek medical care, families confront many unknowns
“Reliable national data on how many children receive care for gender dysphoria – defined as a feeling of distress from identifying as a gender different from the one assigned at birth – have long been unavailable. To get some idea of the increasing prevalence of these cases, Reuters asked health technology company Komodo Health Inc to analyze its database of U.S. insurance claims and other medical records on about 330 million Americans. The analysis, the first of its kind, found that at least 121,882 children ages 6 to 17 were diagnosed with gender dysphoria in the five years to the end of 2021. More than 42,000 of those children were diagnosed just last year, up 70% from 2020.”
“Though smaller, the number of children receiving medical treatments like those the Akron clinic outlined for the Boyers is also growing fast. The number of children who started on puberty-blockers or hormones totaled 17,683 over the five-year period, rising from 2,394 in 2017 to 5,063 in 2021, according to the analysis. These numbers are probably a significant undercount since they don’t include children whose records did not specify a gender dysphoria diagnosis or whose treatment wasn’t covered by insurance.”
and
“Ducar and officials at other clinics said the waiting lists at many facilities show that children already face significant barriers to treatment due to a shortage of providers and a persistent stigma in healthcare attached to transgender patients. “If you put unnecessary roadblocks in the way, we know the kid will still be trans and they will continue to experience deep psychological stress that increases the risk of suicide attempts or suicide itself,” Ducar said.”
Cases of gender dysphoria are rapidly increasing. Clinics have a waiting list for gender treatment. Why are we seeing an increase in GD cases? We could change nothing about how gender dysphoria is treated currently and still look harder for answers right? I understand how dangerous this condition can be so it is undeniable that help is needed for children and adults who are suffering. It isn’t a choice of either or.
Are the treatments working?
“Gender care for minors gained further legitimacy as medical groups endorsed the practice and began issuing treatment guidelines. Chief among them is the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, a 4,000-member organization that includes medical, legal, academic and other professionals from around the world. Over the past decade, its guidelines have been echoed by the likes of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Endocrine Society, which represents specialists in hormones.”
“In its latest Standards of Care, released in September, WPATH notes the paucity (scarcity) of research supporting the long-term effectiveness of medical treatment for adolescents with gender dysphoria. As a result, the guidelines say, “a systematic review regarding outcomes of treatment in adolescents is not possible.” The Endocrine Society, in its own guidelines, acknowledges the “low” or “very low” certainty of evidence supporting its recommendations.”
What in the hell are they doing then? The American Academy of Pediatrics is echoing guidelines set by WPAT? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? The Endocrine Society acknowledges low or very low evidence to support its recommendations? Without a possible review of outcomes, what are the treatment plans based on, good guesses? Are parents loving their children through a meat grinder and/or through poorly understood hormone and puberty-blocking treatments without a systematic review regarding outcomes? Let’s not assume data exists and go on our merry way. I thought medical science follows evidence-based treatments for children. Apparently, not in this case. I’m just saying what if the “experts” have this all wrong? What if what is being celebrated/affirmed is something we can control without risky treatments?
I hypothesize that what we’re seeing with gender dysphoria is a behavioral disorder that is caused by a generational decline in gut health. The existing disorder is then popularized and encouraged at every turn by some honest and some virtue-signaling influencers throughout many areas of our society. What if our damaged and incomplete microbiome is causing this issue? What if we can alleviate pain, suffering, and death before it occurs? So what do the doctors dealing with this have to say?
“AbbVie sells adult and pediatric formulations of Lupron, given by injection every few months. Doctors said that there is no meaningful difference between the two, but that they prefer to use the cheaper adult version, at about $4,700 for a three-month dose. They said insurers sometimes insist on the pediatric version, priced at more than $10,000, when the claim specifies that the patient is a child.”
I’ll bet drug companies are all in on these types of pediatric treatments. I think this treatment might be more profitable than testing, understanding, and nourishing our gut microbiome.
“Some scientists and doctors also say they wonder about possible neurological effects of puberty blockers. The question: Hormones released during puberty play a major role in brain development, so when puberty is suppressed, can that result in reduced cognitive function, such as problem-solving and decision making? Dr John Strang, research director of the gender development program at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., and other researchers wrote in a 2020 paper that “pubertal suppression may prevent key aspects of development during a sensitive period of brain organization.”
You don’t say. Do we care or are we rushing headlong into class action lawsuit land? Be sure to get those legal waivers signed. Are parents going into this realizing puberty blockers may be a trade-off rather than a fix? Are they being told this is the only thing they can do to keep their child from becoming suicidal? Some are.
“Strang said at the time that “we need high-quality research to understand the impacts of this treatment – impacts which may be positive in some ways and potentially negative in others.” He declined to comment on whether he was pursuing such research or funding for it.”
This is extremely troubling! Following the science doesn’t seem to apply here.
“At their first meeting at the Akron clinic, Dr Cole was blunt with the Boyers about the unknowns related to puberty blockers and brain development. “We don’t know the long-term effects on cognitive function. It could make it better, worse. We have no idea,” Cole told them. But she said she wouldn’t recommend treatment “if I didn’t see the positive effect on patients.”
What positive effects? The patient feels more like the gender they want for a time so they claim it’s working? If this sort of thing impacts problem-solving and decision making then how much can we trust the feedback from patients, especially in the long term? Do the people on TV, social media influencers, and politicians who seem to unthinkingly support all popular ideas even consider the missing data when they virtue signal about this issue?
“Such assessments are crucial, these medical professionals say, because as the number of pediatric patients has surged, so has the number of those whose main source of distress may not be persistent gender dysphoria. Some could be gender fluid, with a gender identity that changes over time. Some may have mental health problems that complicate their cases. For these children, some practitioners say, medical treatment may pose unnecessary risks when counseling or other nonmedical interventions would be the better choice.”
“I’m afraid what we’re getting are false positives and we’ve subjected them to irreversible physical changes,” said Dr Erica Anderson, a clinical psychologist who previously worked at the University of California San Francisco’s gender clinic. “These errors in judgment are fodder for the naysayers – the people who want to eradicate this care.” Anderson, a transgender woman who still treats children with gender dysphoria in her private practice, resigned as president of WPATH’s U.S. chapter last year after her public comments about “sloppy” care prompted the organization to issue a temporary moratorium on board members speaking to the press.”
In Europe, concern that too many children might be unnecessarily put at risk has prompted countries like Finland and Sweden which were early to embrace gender care for children to now limit access to care. The United Kingdom is shutting down its main clinic for children’s gender care and overhauling the system after an independent review found that some staff felt “pressure to adopt an unquestioning affirmative approach.”
It seems clear that false positives are going to be a problem as we move into the future if we don’t figure this out. Dr. Anderson’s expert opinion indicates that a portion of the surge in children seeking gender dysphoria treatment may be overblown or children are being misdiagnosed. You can’t put the penis back on so there better not be a single false positive. As I watch politicians argue about this issue it feels like they buy into one of two narratives and push like hell to virtue signal to their constituents that they’re on the right side. What I’m suggesting here is just another possible avenue that should be investigated. If that research bares fruit then wouldn’t it be good news for families dealing with this?
This is in no way a denial of what people are experiencing. I’m bringing this up because I feel empathy for them. I’ve been in a wheelchair for over 15 years now and I’d certainly hate for anyone to affirm my disability if it could be corrected before it occurs. I’d love for researchers to find a treatment for my condition that works. Perhaps my disability was caused by a diminished gut microbiota during my development and early childhood. Since we know microbiota is generational perhaps the genetic expression for my disorder happened before I was even born. Looking into this area of biology causes me to ask many questions about the world around me.
I’ve never seen any studies that are specific to gender dysphoria and gut health. If you know of any please comment below. I’d love to read them.
Edit, I just found this!
The Gut Microbiome As An Endocrine Organ
By Dr. Russell Schierling - 6/4/2017
“The Gut / Endocrine Connection
BLAME IT ALL ON YOUR GUT / MICROBIOME CONNECTION: Two years ago next month, FEMS Microbiology Reviews (Microbial Endocrinology: The Interplay Between the Microbiota and the Endocrine System) concluded that, “We now know that microbes influence metabolism, immunity and even behavior. One important but understudied mechanism appears to involve hormones. Although the precise pathways of microbiota-hormonal signaling have not yet been deciphered, specific changes in hormone levels correlate with the presence of the gut microbiota.”
“The microbiota produces and secretes hormones, responds to host hormones and regulates expression levels of host hormones. We categorize these interactions by the different functions of the hormones, including those affecting behavior, sexual attraction, appetite and metabolism, gender, and immunity.” This last sentence is interesting because I firmly believe that just like other neurological issues such as AUTISM, a significant part of our nation’s gender dysphoria can be tied to disturbances in the microbiome, right along with ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS, MASS QUANTITIES OF SUGAR, and incessant CHEMICAL EXPOSURE.”
It seems that I’m not the only one coming up with this hypothesis. Interestingly, sexual attraction is impacted by microbiota-hormonal signaling as well. Guys and Gals, I think this is extremely important stuff to consider. We can love and respect people with autism spectrum disorder while at the same time trying to understand what causes it and hopefully minimize or eliminate the parts of ASD that cause difficulty. We can do the same for all behavioral disorders, right? Does affirming a behavioral disorder constitute treatment? If someone is schizophrenic do we help them see reality as it really is by helping them love and acknowledge their true self or do we lead them to believe true happiness and contentment are found through creating alternate personalities? If someone suffers from schizophrenia do we provide them with a permanent costume and mask to live their character?
If we start with the assumption that GD isn’t caused by anything more than a cruel and fatalistic trick that nature plays on unsuspecting young humans then I suppose the unscientific feelings-based approach to treating this disorder makes sense. If we assume that we have some power to impact the destiny of humankind’s mental health then perhaps we would be throwing money at the research to discover what causes GD and other disorders. If the “born this way” conclusion is correct let’s accept that and act accordingly. Anything that happens to someone so young will give the impression (confirmation) that they were born that way but does it make it true? No human could be expected to know their gut microbiome condition impacted their current feelings. If researchers discover 1-3 year olds are missing the natural microbiome activity resulting in GD later in life we may be able to help them sooner. Perhaps older children can even be helped through enriching their gut microbiome. What if?
Compare what Martin J. Blaser, MD wrote here:
“Interacting with each other and with us in complex ways, our bacteria are a diverse community to which we can apply the term microbiome. They are acquired in a standard, choreographed process, and their composition comes to resemble that of adults by the age of 3.”
To what Reuters article said in their story:
“Steve and Danielle had no direct experience with transgender people when Ryace was born. By around age 4, she referred to herself as a girl, played with girls at friends’ houses and became fascinated with women’s clothing and jewelry. On Christmas morning 2011, shortly before her 4th birthday, Ryace was thrilled when she got much of what she had wanted from Santa: Barbie dolls, a dollhouse, and toys in pink and purple.”
What I’m saying is the best time for treatment may be before age 3, not 6-17. Let’s not ask parents to spend tens of thousands on hormone therapy and ask children to suffer from confusion, worry, and possible brain damaging therapies without data to back up the safety of the treatment. Let’s not ask parents and children to pay for and undergo costly and painful surgical procedures to approximate a gender change if there is a better way to help people. Wouldn’t it be more caring to treat a baby or toddler's gut issue rather than lose gender-confused youth and adults to suicide? Even with all of the treatments we still lose some people to suicide.
What if there is a connection between the human gut microbiome and this disorder? Wouldn’t that be worth pursuing? If poor gut health causes malfunctions in host systems so young of course the person with GD will feel like they were born that way. Everyone around them would assume this was an inborn condition. Perhaps scientists should pick a disorder like GD, autism, or depression and see if there are commonalities in the digestive tract microbiota of cohorts who share the same challenges. I believe we’re going to see big news in the area of gut health in the coming years. I hope I’m right.
Return to - The role of gut microbiota in the gut-brain axis: current challenges and perspectives
“Gut and brain originated from the same tissue, the neural crest, during embryogenesis tightly work in tandem, each influencing the other (Cattell et al., 2011). The communication between gut and brain is called the gut-brain axis. Recent evidences showed that gut microbiota plays a very important role in the gut-brain axis to affect mental health. Also there are evidences that gut microbiota is associated with non-neurological conditions such as obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome via the gut-brain axis (Manco, 2012)."
Fascinating! The gut-brain axis is a term I’d never heard before I researched this story. Let’s follow the evidence. I just love how I’m being led through interconnected valleys of knowledge through my research and writing here. People who show signs of gender dysphoria feel like they are in the wrong body. If true the gut microbiome GD link hypothesis may prove these individuals are actually in the correct body but they may have missed out on important genetic expression early on due to a lack of a complete microbiome or a biome that was decimated by antibiotics and modern child rearing conditions or lacking as a result of generational gut microbiome loss.
Behavior disorders and body chemistry are in many cases inter related. Of course, behavior disorders can develop due to factors other than chemistry. My hypothesis that the gut microbiome is causing behavior disorders like GD stems from trying to imagine what factors besides culture and media could be causing such a massive increase in GD cases that there’s a waiting list at some clinics.
I believe that our increasingly depleted diets, lack of beneficial gut microbe diversity/population, increased antibiotic dependence, loss of ancestral gut microbes, sedentary lifestyle, poor hydration, and the addition of harmful chemicals in our food and other consumer products have caused the mis-evolution of our species. GD is the prime “behavior disorder” I’m focusing on here but there are many other disorders that have become too common too quickly to be the result of natural biological changes in our species and or affirming social attitudes. Over the coming years, many will also be subject to the curse and blessing of genetic manipulation which will complicate matters even more. When identity itself becomes unclear for so many so quickly I think it’s worth looking into the cause instead of assuming we know what’s going on and embracing treatments that may not be necessary and may even be harmful.
What does all this have to do with gardening? I’m trying to show you the meaning of gardening by bringing you along on my research walkabout. This walkabout was much more organized than my typical walkabout. You’re welcome! You’d be amazed where you can end up if you let your natural curiosity lead you to a destination. You’ll know you’re there when you get stuck on something that calls to you loudly. There are many threads leading in and out of the garden, some longer than others.
I started learning about the soil and it gave me more understanding of how the human body works and caused me to formulate some of the questions outlined here. To me, the walkabout is one of the most beautiful and natural ways to learn. To some, it may appear unfocused and confusing. To me, it’s a walk through a strange, wonderful, and sometimes frightening forest full of interconnected gifts with strings attached. I love finding gifts but I love to following the string just as much. May you always have a living root in your soil.
Adam
P.S. Here is a wonderful walkabout song from the Man in Black.
Johnny Cash feat. U2- The Wanderer
Eat your veggies for your gut health