A warning over the health impacts of giving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to young people struggling with gender identity has prompted a call for a review of their use in Scotland.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said that existing studies of the drugs were small and “subject to bias and confounding”.
It follows research published in the British Medical Journal that described how children prescribed puberty blockers experienced reduced growth in height and bone strength by the time they finished their treatment at age 16.
The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (Sign), which issues clinical advice to the NHS, is being asked to conduct a review amid concern that children as young as eight could be given the drugs.
“This should