100

Scientists demonstrate that the female brain in humans is resistant to anesthetics and that "sex differences in anesthetic sensitivity are largely due to acute effects of sex hormones". (www.pnas.org)

submitted 11 months ago by Joleee@lemmy.world to c/science@lemmy.world

17 comments fedilink hide all child comments

top 17 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[-] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 23 points 11 months ago

Maybe now doctors will listen to women when they describe their ailments. /s

I heard an interview with the author of Invisible Women early in the pan. She was downright angry about how the world is designed for men (medical drug testing, car safety, etc). I was super intrigued and bought the book, but haven't read it yet. It wasn't the right time due to world events. I need to stop starting new books and get to some of those that I ordered and shelved without reading during 2020.

[-] feminalpanda 22 points 11 months ago

So trans men on hormones would be more sensitive to anesthesia and trans women on HRT would be less sensitive to anesthesia. Also cis women with PCOS would be more susceptible to anesthesia.

[-] DessertStorms@kbin.social 5 points 11 months ago

Right? How hard is it, especially in scientific research/publication to just say "people with higher levels of hormone A or B"? 🤦‍♀️

[-] TWeaK@lemm.ee 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

The abstract literally says that. "Anesthetic sensitivity is bidirectionally modulated by testosterone."

Why is it so important that this article be about you and trans issues? You come across as quite conceited.

Trans matters are only very tangentially related here. This is about testosterone and anesthetic sensitivity. It suggests one of two things:

We should be modulating anesthetic dosage by a person's testosterone level.
We should be giving some people testosterone injections alongside anesthetic such that their testosterone level meets that which the anesthetic dosage is set to.

[-] BleakBluets@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

You said it yourself, "this is about testosterone and anesthetic sensitivity." (edit: it did before an edit) So why use sex as an abstraction over the real variable if it isn't relevent? This isn't about trans activism any more than it is about "PCOS activism". People are just pointing out that conditions such as PCOS, having XXY chromosomes, and hormone therapy treatment affect the testosterone levels (and thus anesthetic sensitivty) independent of sex. A more clear and correct statement would just talk about testosterone levels. The inference that women tend to have lower testosterone levels shouldn't be anything more than a side note; it's relevance isn't title-worthy.

[-] TWeaK@lemm.ee 1 points 11 months ago

I agree with the top comment highlighting PCOS and trans men and women. It's a somewhat narrow view, but a valid comment.

The thing I took issue with was the claim that the article didn't say the very thing it says in the abstract.

The paper is actually very, very good, in my opinion. It starts from the observed premise that "women are less sensitive to anesthetic than men" and then digs in to find out why, building significantly on previous research. Also, the error bars on their graphs are so tight they're sexy.

[-] DessertStorms@kbin.social -1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

You're literally explaining why saying "people with higher levels of hormone A or B" in the title (a prominent part of a publication) instead of pseudoscientific bullshit like "the female brain" is not only accurate, but would avoid all sorts of potential confusion.

I also literally never mentioned trans people (sorry, "issues"), you're clearly just a bigot triggered by the mere suggestion of inclusivity of all people, who would reject it even at the expense of accuracy because you're just so hateful, and should feel free to go fuck yourself.

[-] TWeaK@lemm.ee 3 points 11 months ago

“the female brain” was from the post title, it's not what the paper says.

You said "How hard is it, especially in scientific research/publication to just say "people with higher levels of hormone A or B"? when the abstract itself said exactly that, as I quoted.

Apparently, you didn't read the article, you just came here to talk about yourself. And also to throw insults and generally be horrible.

[-] DessertStorms@kbin.social -5 points 11 months ago

Aw, the transphobe doesn't like being told to fuck off.. Diddums...

[-] TWeaK@lemm.ee 1 points 11 months ago

Rule 1, dude.

[-] feminalpanda 3 points 11 months ago

I should send this to my bottom surgery doc.

[-] A_A@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

Polycystic ovary syndrome, or polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), is the most common endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age. The syndrome is named after cysts which form on the ovaries of some people with this condition, though this is not a universal symptom, and not the underlying cause of the disorder.

[-] TWeaK@lemm.ee 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

So trans men on hormones would be more sensitive to anesthesia and trans women on HRT would be less sensitive to anesthesia. Also cis women with PCOS would be more susceptible to anesthesia.

Trans men on testosterone, yes; cis women with PCOS, yes (provided their testosterone level isn't reduced through treatment); trans women on HRT - maybe.

It's about levels of testosterone, so any woman (trans or otherwise) with high levels of testosterone would be more sensitive. If a trans woman on HRT (estrogen) still had a relatively high level of testosterone then she would still be sensitive to anesthetic.

It's not really got anything to do with levels of estrogen. In fact, it mentions that removal of female sex organs (oophorectomy) has no effect. However, it does mention "Conversion of testosterone to estradiol [a form of estrogen] by aromatase is partially responsible for this effect." which, I'll be honest, is beyond my understanding of how hormones work in the body (gonna have to dig in and read the cited sources). It does not seem that estrogen pathways have this effect, rather it's testosterone in its normal, uninhibited biochemical pathways that does it - inhibiting aromatase lowers sensitivity, in spite of higher testosterone levels.