Male losing their Y gene as they age, may be related to Trans people?

[Allie Jayne]

It has been known for a while that Males can lose their Y gene as they age, but until recently, the Y gene was thought to have little effect. Recent studies have linked the loss of the Y gene to many health conditions.

https://theconversation.com/men-lose-their-y-chromosome-as-they-age-scientists-thought-it-didnt-matter-but-now-were-learning-more-275823 🔗

Though it has yet to be studied, this may have implications for trans people. Increasing trans awareness and dysphoria in older males has been known forever, and was erroneously dubbed 'late onset transgender', but maybe the loss of the Y gene could explain why many people do not discover they are trans until later in life! I believe we are born trans, but many don't have an awareness until later in life.

In my own case, from middle age, my Testosterone level fell significantly, and my dysphoria levels raised significantly, eventually affecting my health. It could be that the trigger for this to happen was the loss of the Y gene. We won't know until research is done, and I would imagine there are no plans for this in the foreseeable future, but it might one day add to our knowledge.

Hugs,

Allie

[BrianaJ]

Interesting article. I'm glad she included the sentence regarding association does not always mean causation.  I think many times people have a difficult time with that concept.  It also doesn't seem like it's something one would want given the possible negative health implications.

I also didn't find any mention or relation to trans people.  Did I miss a paragraph/page ??

[coral]

Allie Jayne,
   It is probably more the 6 years on estradiol, but since I am 78 losing the Y gene could very well be a contributing factor of my becoming more feminine.  Even though I am on estradiol patches, the doctor has not approved testosterone blockers. My skin has become much softer, body hair including facial appears to be much less, as well as other physical features being more feminine.

   Also, even though science denies it, I believe heredity also contributes to transsexual desires.

Coral

[Sephirah]

Yeah I'm not sure about this. Nothing is mentioned with regard to gender dysphoria and I'm not sure that this could be a cause of people coming out later in life. I mean it might be, but that article says that the X chromosome has copies of everything the Y chromosome has, with regard to what it does other than determine what bits you have where. And that it's the lack of a second copy which causes all sorts of health issues.

The only thing I can really get from this is that losing one of the chromosomes, either XX or XY, seems very bad for your health. Physically speaking.

I think... I kind of agree with you that it's something we are born with, Allie. And I tend to err on the side of other causes to explain why people don't... I don't want to say discover, because I'm not sure that's true. Maybe accept is a better word. I am inclined to think societal and psychological reasons are more likely for why people do or don't accept who they are, than losing the Y chromosome. Chiefly because it infers the opposite. And I don't like that in any argument. That and it doesn't say anything about the Y being replaced with another X.

Who knows, maybe it's a contributor in some cases. But that article seems to suggest that losing either of the pair of chromosomes seems to be quite bad news. Whether it's X or Y.

[Lori Dee ✅]

The article states that the loss is "only in some cells," so not a systemic issue. That may affect those tissues, but for it to be a "cause," it would need to be system-wide.

Even the transgender folks who come out late in life admit they had experiences, thoughts, and feelings when they were much younger. This suggests that the theory that "we are born this way" due to a divergence in brain/body development is more likely.

Possibly, the Loss of Y later in life exacerbates the already existing gender dysphoria, which then motivates us to finally do something about it. Later in life, we generally have more stable living conditions, maybe be retired with more time for reflection and introspection. I can see those being more of a factor than aging cell chromosomes.

[Allie Jayne]

Certainly, there is no assumption that loss of Y causes someone to become trans, but it occurs late in life which parallels the experience of many trans people who only discover they are trans post middle age. There have been no studies linking this to trans people, and I doubt there will be in the foreseeable future. It is common for 'late bloomers' to reflect that there were signs all through their lives that they were always trans, but they had never considered it.

So, this article is interesting as it may have links to trans people, and I thought it was worth posting.

Hugs,

Allie 

[Sephirah]

Definitely worth posting. I never even knew it was a thing that happened. I thought chromosomes were just a thing people had and wasn't something that could be lost. It's certainly eye opening.