The California Dreamin Transgender Convention, April 17-20, 2008, at the Hotel Doubletree, San Jose

Critical Questions in Transgendered Hormone Therapy

When: Saturday, April 19, 1:30–2:30 pm

Where: San Simeon Room

Using a brief summary of the principles of hormone therapy as a backdrop, Dr. O'Dea will pose a series of critical questions, for which most patients either lack an answer or have the wrong one, and then he will answer them. Questions such as:

  • Can hormone therapy be administered in a form or forms that will not trigger emotional problems?
  • Should the results of the Women's Health Initiative study of the Menopause (WHIM) alter the way we give or take transgender hormone therapy?
  • In what manner do the so called “sexual” hormones influence brain and mind and to what degree are such influences more than simply sexual?

Return to Saturday Schedule

Dr. John O'Dea

Dr. John O'Dea grew up and went to medical school in Ireland, then obtained his postgraduate training including his Endocrinology fellowship in Cleveland, Ohio. The doctor's primary areas of interest center around the sexual hormones, including:

  • Transgender Hormone Therapy, both pre- and post- operative;
  • Testosterone deficiency in men and its related health issues, not only sexual but also non-sexual;
  • Sex hormone disturbances in women before and after menopause, as they influence emotions, cognition and general health, thanks to their impact on the brain and on the non-sexual organs of the body

Dr. O'Dea was drawn into the area of Transgender Hormone Therapy some fifteen or so years ago, at the urging of Trudi Hill, a brilliant Ph.D. psychologist known for her work with transgender and gender issues. He is considered a thought leader in the field and decries the use of protocol-based, “cookbook” medicine, particularly as it pertains to transgender care, an area far too long marginalized.

Dr. O'Dea sees patients from all over the world at the Hamilton Centre in Los Angeles, where he minimizes the emotional side effects of hormone therapy while maximizing safe, rapid, natural feminization. He also tailors hormonal care toward the preservation of sexual drive and function in those pre-operative patients who desire it, and the restoration of sexual interest and elimination of depression in the post-operative patient, without sacrificing or compromising femininity.

url: www.hamiltonlove.com