Long-term cross-sex hormone treatment is safe in transsexual subjects

The European Journal of Endocrinology recently published a paper (Asscheman et al.) presenting mortality data from more than a thousand transsexuals followed for a median time of 18 years and who had undergone previous or were currently on long term cross-sex hormonal treatment. Transsexualism is a rare condition and in scientific literature there are few reports on the long-term safety of different treatment protocols and on the physical and psychological outcomes of medical treatments. The safety of long-term high doses oestrogen or testosterone in subjects of the opposite sex has been debated and data on long term effects are scant at best. The Asscherman paper therefore represents a very important and reassuring reference for professionals working in this field suggesting that mortality is increased among transsexuals although due to causes unrelated to cross sex replacement therapy. These results will benefit the care and treatment of these subjects.