为什么LGBTQ健康的世界不能被贴上一个单一的标签

同志月期间，LGBTQ人群可能会团结起来庆祝. But when the topic is health, experts say it's crucial to acknowledge differences.

太频繁, LGBTQ人群被认为是一个整体, ，好像他们都有同样的问题, 所有人都有相同的需求,”医生说。. 小卡尔·斯特里德., assistant professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. “但事实并非如此."

最新的 盖洛普民意测验 结合 人口普查数据 使居住在美国的LGBTQ成年人的数量增加了一倍.S. 大约1800万，Streed说. 因此，很明显，宽泛的标签并不适用于所有国家. 但压力, who also is the research lead for the Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery at Boston Medical Center, said that not only is each letter of the LGBTQ label its own community with its own health needs, “每封信里都有独特的需求."

"So it's not just that trans people have different needs than lesbians – there are different needs even within the trans communities,他说.

一些健康问题确实影响着LGBTQ群体中的每一个人, 托尼娅·波蒂特说, associate professor of social medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Many of those issues relate to chronic stress in the face of discrimination.

“我们在心理健康方面都看到了这一点, 比如更普遍的抑郁和焦虑, 而且在身体健康方面,她说.

根据 U.S. 疾病预防和健康促进办公室, discrimination against LGBTQ people has been associated with high rates of psychiatric conditions, 药物滥用和自杀. 和一个 2020年科学声明 来自美国心脏协会, 是波特和史崔德帮助写的吗, said "there is growing evidence that LGBTQ adults experience worse cardiovascular health relative to their cisgender heterosexual peers."

但Streed说，随着焦点缩小，差异就会出现.

“高血压的发病率是不同的, 胆固醇和糖尿病的水平,他说, 以及身体活动水平的差异.

高血压的例子, 或者高血压, 显示了不同群体的问题差异有多大. 初步研究 presented last year at the AHA's Scientific Sessions conference found that while gay men and bisexual women both were at higher risk f或者高血压 than their heterosexual peers, 这个问题在男同性恋者中更为常见. 女同性恋者和双性恋者, 与此同时, 他们没有面临比异性恋同龄人更多的风险.

写在 2021年的《线上电子游戏飞禽走兽》, Poteat and her co-authors said statistics from Canada indicate that bisexual women experience poorer mental health than lesbians.

The 2020 AHA scientific statement highlighted that lesbian women are more likely to use tobacco than heterosexual women, 男人和男同性恋, while transgender wo男人和男同性恋 bear a disproportionate burden of HIV, 哪些因素会增加患心脏病的风险, 与非lgbtq人群相比.

但强调这种差异的研究很少. And that can lead to lack of understanding among physicians and ill-informed care, 强调说.

Health care professionals who aren't aware of LGBTQ needs can be insensitive about even basic medical needs. 女同性恋者可能会被问及避孕问题, 强调说, or a transgender person might be told to get an exam on anatomy they don't have.

对波特来说，解决方案可以从简单的承认开始. “每个人都需要作为个体来对待，”她说. "And that requires being curious about that person's individual experience, 也不要带着对他们是谁的假设."

强调同意. 太频繁, 他说, a visit to the doctor's office is filled with experiences that can alienate people who are not straight, 健康的白人男性. Ill-informed care 供应商 make "assumptions about what we think people should look like, 他们应该有什么样的身体啊, 以及他们应该属于什么样的家庭."

为了解决这个问题, care 供应商 and researchers need to "unlearn a lot of assumptions and recognize the complexity of the actual diversity of human life and build research tools to recognize that and measure that,他说.

波蒂特说，人们可以选择他们的护理提供者. 她推荐GLMA.org, the website of a national association of LGBTQ health care professionals, which offers a free list of 供应商 who testify to being LGBTQ friendly and knowledgeable. 变性人可以寻找 供应商 who are certified by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.

"Going through those organizations is one way to find people who are at least working on and trying to be LGBTQ aware and responsive,波特说.

People should feel comfortable and empowered to demand appropriate care, 强调说. "This is their health, and they're seeking help from a profession that's job is to care. 所以如果我们的专业不够，那是我们的错."

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