"Review of Transgender Youth Care in UK Reveals Weak Evidence and Toxic Debate"

England has joined four other European countries in restricting hormone treatments for adolescents with gender distress due to concerns about long-term harms and a lack of evidence of their benefits. The National Health Service will no longer offer drugs that block puberty, except for patients enrolled in clinical research, and recommended extreme caution in prescribing hormones like testosterone and estrogen to minors. This move reflects a broader shift in northern Europe, where health officials have been concerned by soaring demand for adolescent gender treatments and the difficulty in pinpointing the root cause of distress, known as dysphoria.