Heya,

The sun is shining, and it’s the last day of my holidays 😏 … but then I did manage a major update with 51 added articles ☺. Most are older (i.e. from 2000 to 2010) and fit into the other references category, but some are quite noteworthy:

• A German group around G. S. Kranz et al. found more evidence that MtF transsexuals have feminised brains. The study in “European Psychiatry” from 2013 states that cisgender males have a serotonin transporter asymmetry in the midcingulate which is absent in cisgender females and MtF transsexuals.

• Baba et al. write in “Human Reproduction” in 2007 that untreated FtM transsexuals have a higher incidence rate of polycystic ovary syndrome and hyperandrogenaemia (one day, I’ll look up what that means ☺). This is further evidence for physiological differences in transsexuals.

• Wisniewski et al. confirm in the “Archives of Sexual Behavior” in 2005 that MtF transsexuals are more often left-handed but could not find female-typical patterns in brain lateralisation.

• In the category animal studies on hormonal influences on gender identity, I added the 1998 landmark study by Goy et al. (“Hormones and Behavior”). It states that gender expression develops independently from the genitals.

• Bocklandt and Vilain present their case in “Advances in genetics” in 2007 that genetic factors play a role in forming sexual dimorphic traits such as aggression and sexual orientation, independently from sex hormones.

• Goddard et al. (in “BJU International”, 2007) studied 222 MtF transsexuals after surgery and found “good overall cosmetic and functional results, with a sustained high patient satisfaction”.

In other news, I tried to contact the researchers Kristina Zamarytė and Donatas Stakišaitis about their controversial study “Pharmacovigilance and principle of nonmaleficence in sex reassignment” published in the Lithuanian “Medicina” in 2012 (mentioned in my 2014-07-05 blog post). I have received no reply, making me fear that the study was perhaps not conducted in good faith following the impartial rules of science.

Danielle Askini wrote an excellent and succinct article about why SRS should be publicly funded, mentioning suicides as the most relevant point. After medical assistance, suicide rates drop from 30–32 % to 2–4 %.

In “Rolling Stones Magazine”, Sabrina Rubin Erdely published a nice little article about “The Science of Transgender”, summing up the current consensus about the biological origins of transsexualism. This kind of press helps!

Have a great weekend!