Health issues1/5/2023 “Bisexuals do have the highest health risks,” said Henning-Smith, who passionately believes that all people should have a chance to have a healthy life. This group was also the least likely to be insured and also avoided getting medical care in the past year due to cost. They’re less likely to describe their health as excellent and had higher levels of distress. Lesbian and bisexual women are also more likely to receive diagnoses with some cancers as well as higher rates of cardiovascular disease, according to the Kaiser Foundation report.īut bisexual people reported the poorest overall health. “And being overweight is a big risk factor for chronic diseases,” said Gonzalez. Peeling away the health differences within the LGBT community is revealing, too.įor example, lesbian - and especially bisexual - women are more likely to be overweight than heterosexual women. “Homophobia is alive and well.”Īs the federal government begins collecting more health data on sexual orientation, these disparities are finally coming to light, experts noted.īisexual people face the most health issues “And we need to be concerned about it,” she said. Stress and anxiety are indeed linked to poor health outcomes, Carrie Henning-Smith, a research associate at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and who also co-authored the report, told Healthline. “It could be drowning feelings by self-medicating,” he said. Gonzales, who co-authored the study, describes smoking and drinking as a “coping mechanism” for dealing with discrimination. There’s also a lot of variation within the LGBT community.”Īnother study of over 68,000 American adults found that lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults drank and smoked more heavily than heterosexual adults. “There is minority stress,” Gilbert Gonzales, assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, told Healthline. These stresses can occur on many fronts, such as hearing about constant LGBT legal battles, workplace discrimination, or being denied healthcare. Stress and anxiety that’s fueled by discrimination are the likely culprits, say many experts. On top of that, LGBT adults face more challenges in getting healthcare. In the LGBT community, this stigmatization can lead to varying types of chronic health issues.Ī lot of LGBT health research funding and public attention still goes to AIDS.īut the LGBT community also experiences higher rates of other less visible health issues, like high blood pressure and earlier onset of disabilities, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation Research report. Discrimination is bad for anyone’s health.
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