Biological males who take transgender hormone drugs are reportedly up to 93 per cent more likely to suffer from heart disease, according to a study in the European Journal of Endocrinology.
An analysis of the health outcomes of 2,671 self-identified transgender people from Denmark between the ages of 22 and 26 over five years found that men put on transgender hormone drugs to increase oestrogen levels were nearly twice as likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease compared to average men. This was done by comparing cardiovascular disease rates among a control group of 26,700 people.
The researchers found that those who were “assigned male at birth” who began taking trans hormone drugs were 93 per cent more likely to suffer heart disease than average men and 73 per cent more likely than women, The Telegraph reported.
The incidence rate was approximately three per cent for biologically male transgender individuals, compared to 1.5 per cent for men and 1.7 per cent for women.
Meanwhile, transgender individuals who were “assigned female at birth” and who took testosterone-boosting drugs were found to be 63 per cent more likely to suffer from heart diseases than average women and more than double the average male.
Biologically female transgenders had an incident rate of 1.7 per cent, compared to 1.1 for women and 0.8 per cent for men.
The lead author of the study, Dr Dorte Glintborg of Odense University Hospital in Denmark, said that the study indicated that the hormone treatments were believed to be directly responsible for “around a third” of the increased cardiovascular health risk for female to male transgender people. The evidence of the drugs increasing the risk for biological males was less understood.
“Cardiovascular and metabolic outcomes were more prevalent in transgender persons compared to controls. Gender-affirming hormone therapy exposure could contribute to the elevated cardiovascular risk in transgender men, assigned female at birth. Future studies will be able to bring further knowledge regarding mechanisms for higher cardiovascular risk in transgender men and women.”
However, she said: “Hormone treatments such as oestrogen will increase fat mass and lower lean body mass, and increased oestrogen is usually associated with increased risk of autoimmune disease and inflammation.”
“For transwomen (assigned male at birth, AMAB), hormone treatments such as oestrogen will increase fat mass and lower lean body mass, and increased oestrogen is usually associated with increased risk of autoimmune disease and inflammation.
“Several other factors apart from body fat/leanness and muscle mass could affect risk of vascular and metabolic diseases in transgender populations and we still need more long-term data.”