The University of California’s Los Angeles School of Public Health released a study indicating that health patterns among lesbians and bisexual women put them at a higher risk of cancer and other chronic diseases associated with smoking and obesity than heterosexual women.
The study finds that lesbian and bisexual women are less likely to have health insurance coverage and less likely to schedule regular mammograms and pelvic examinations because of “negative experiences with health care practitioners and mistrust of the health care community.” These tendencies are compounded by additional evidence that they have higher rates of obesity, alcohol use, and tobacco use.
