Lesbian and bisexual women die significantly earlier than heterosexual women, according to a new study, and it’s likely due in part to discrimination.
The role sexuality plays in overall health is a subject that’s attracted researchers for decades, resulting in a large body of evidence of how LGBTQ people experience a variety of negative outcomes, from mental health issues to chronic disease, at elevated rates. But what hadn’t been widely studied is how these outcomes actually affect mortality rates.
The paper, published last month in JAMA, reviewed decades’ worth of data from the Nurses’ Health Study II, which began in 1989 as part of a series of investigations into risk factors for major chronic diseases in women. The authors analyzed how sexuality contributed to premature death rates among the study’s cohort of more than 100,000 U.S. nurses. And what they turned up was an alarming disparity in how long lesbian and bisexual women live in comparison to their heterosexual peers.
Read more at NBCNews.com.
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