Exulansic was not the first to notice that the puberty blockade and subsequent wrong-sex hormones affected Jazz's brain development. Her specific hypothesis, that this resulted in a hypothalamic condition contributing to Jazz's obesity, is untested. I don't think she's suggested otherwise. But the implications of the puberty blockers, as she's developed them, are indisputable.
We know that the desired cosmetic effects of puberty blockers are the tip of the iceberg. It's simply not credible, and never was, to suppose that the effects on the brain would be any less severe than those on the genitals. It would be misleading to characterize these effects as anything other than a brain injury, and there is plenty of evidence for this. For example, his lack of sexual attraction is a brain thing, not a penis thing. There might be effects that are more subtle but just as important. It's not reasonable to accept the obvious fact that the puberty blockade prevented his libido from developing while rejecting the possibility that it also affected things like appetite, self-control, judgment, planning, sleep, mood, et cetera.
We do not know the extent of Jazz's brain injury. We wouldn't even know in theory: it's not like we fully understand the brain and its development in the first place, let alone the effects of depriving it of necessary hormones during a crucial window; the effects of those effects, and so on; and how this will translate into Jazz's behavior and mental state. It is going to take a lot of research to find out what is happening to these kids, and it's not being done.
Given all this, as Exulansic points out, the assumption that Jazz's mental health problems, eating disorder, and physical health problems have a conventional etiology and treatment is not only wholly unscientific, but extremely cruel to Jazz. Does anyone really think that it's fair for the dietitian and Ari to treat Jazz as if he hadn't had this experimental treatment? It's a piece of the puzzle, just like the 17 pills, the abusive mother, the traumatic penis amputation and neovagina disappointment, chronic pain, a life of being groomed into a lie, the stress of being famous for genital mutilation. Any of these could be a sufficient cause of Jazz's eating disorder. But that doesn't allow us to dismiss the fact that WE KNOW HE HAS FUCKING BRAIN DAMAGE.
When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras - this is usually good advice. But it's bad advice when you're on safari.
