John Dias of Misandry Review recently identified an emerging medical trend that has very disturbing implications. Some doctors in south Florida have been injecting adolescent autistic boys with lupron, a prostate cancer treatment drug that halts production of testosterone.
According to Dr. Mark Geier, testosterone binds mercury in the body, and autistic kids often have too much testosterone, so the treatment helps by restoring a “normal” level of testosterone. However, the majority of parents seeking treatment (if not all of them) appear to be mothers of adolescent boys. Normal levels of testosterone in adolescent boys are very high in comparison with other people.
Some of the parents who have been interviewed expressed frustration with the socially inappropriate behavior of the autistic boys, including some aggression and sexualized behavior. After chemical castration, Geier says that they are more aware, sociable and better-behaved.
The truth about autism is not pretty. Mental conditions are amongst the most difficult for people to deal with, particularly when their children are afflicted with them. Therefore, it is understandable that some parents, in desperation, will grasp at whatever they can. However, Dr. Geier is basing this therapy on some unproved hypotheses – such as the mercury-based thimerosal theory – that are quite controversial and likely wrong. Geier suggests that mercury causes the body to produce too much testosterone, and he is only using lupron to restore a normal balance.
In fact, Dr. Geier is not treating mercury as the poison, but rather testosterone. For years now testosterone has been painted as an evil hormone that causes most social problems we have today, so it shouldn’t be surprising that a number of parents find his ideas compelling. It would be no stretch at all to suggest that the pathologization of masculinity led directly to this novel form of “treatment.”
Another use for lupron is in the so-called “chemical castration” of sex offenders where, again, testosterone is treated as the problem rather than another disorder.
Over the years, there have been many, many medical treatments based on pseudoscience and bad ideas. For example, in the 19th century women’s problems were often attributed to “hysteria,” a malady that supposedly caused women to become emotionally disordered and troublesome. Although there is no no doubt that the symptoms existed, the treatment, which consisted of sexually stimulating the women (the vibrator was invented to treat hysteria), should have suggested that it was not a disease at all, but rather simple sexual frustration on the part of women.
Then, in the 20th century the practice of lobotomization became common to treat troublesome individuals, often including difficult or unwanted children. One of the most touching pieces I ever heard on NPR concerned a man whose stepmother had him lobotomized as a child because she just didn’t like him. Lobotomy, which involved the removal of the frontal lobes, has fortunately been recognized as the barbaric treatment it was, although the doctors who touted its benefits were never held accountable for destroying crucial parts of people’s brains.
In the case of lobotomy, treatments were first recommended only for the most extreme individuals, such as very agitated lunatics. However, over time it was touted as a panacea, and countless people, many of whom were not all that disturbed – if at all – lost their frontal lobes.
This is why the trend of using luprol should be cause for alarm. First, they used it on cancer patients as a last-ditch effort to keep them alive. This is acceptable, just as it would be acceptable to remove part of the brain of someone with brain cancer in hopes of saving their life. Next, they start using it on sex offenders, and here’s where it becomes suspect. Not only is it unproven (and highly unlikely) that testosterone is responsible for sadistic perversions, there seems to be a punitive element to the use of the drug in this case. When a drug is used to punish, it becomes a poison. However, perhaps worse, it leads to the assumption that lupron can improve male-specific (or, widely thought to be male-specific) behavior that is conventionally seen as bad.
It’s well known by now that ADD was widely used as an excuse to medicate boys for “misbehavior.” ADD drugs probably started with the most extreme examples, but slowly grew in popularity and became a widespread trend. In today’s anti-male climate, it is plausible that the same thing may happen with lupron. First, it will be used on autistic boys who are unable to follow social rules of behavior, and then on boys who are borderline, and then finally on boys who are simply part of what might be called the “normal” spectrum. I can imagine single mothers, struggling with sullen, rebellious teen boys, demanding that doctors chemically castrate them. In fact, it’s probably already happening.
This is a real threat, and one we have to expose and nip in the bud before it gets started. Quacks like Dr. Geier should be shut down before they start doing some real damage to boys.
