LGBT Medical Issues

LegacyUser

I have to do a literary review of a Medical Issue that is faced by the LGBT community.

Any suggestions?

Only major one I can think of is HIV, but thats not even strictly a LGBT community issue anyways.

Someone else suggested to me Transgender hormone therapy, he thought he read somewhere before that transgender MTF take three times the amount of hormones that post menopausal women do. ( I dont quite know how accurate he might be in his knowledge of this) Nonetheless, seemed like a poor issue anyway, dont know how far I could run with that one.

Anyone have any good ones!!??

Sir Ophiuchus

You're being too specific in terms of medical issues. For example, men who have sex with men (MSM) are at higher risk for a whole lot of health risks, such as hepatitis B and HIV. There are plenty of health issues associated with being LGBT - just because some of them are associated in a lesser degree with non-LGBT folk doesn't mean that they're not a good avenue for academic investigation.

If you want specifics, how about the fact that many MSM don't identify as gay, and are therefore frequently missed by health advertising targeting the LGBT community?

Annasopra

what about mental health issues facing lgbt people or health for lesbian and bisexual women

deirdre_dub

medissueguest wrote: »

Someone else suggested to me Transgender hormone therapy

There are different hormone treatment regiemes. The one used in Ireland for M2F trans women is quite unique in the world. It is very expensive, and some consider it to be less effective.

PM me for more information.

Chuchoter

I found this really interesting, I don't know if its the kind of thing your looking for but it could be a starting point.

http://www.stonewall.org.uk/documents/prescription_for_change_1.pdf

TylerIE

I cant recall what sites or sources but there are huge mental health issues that are more prevalent for members of the LGBT community.

The Americans cite LGBT males being 4/5/6 times more likely to attempt suicide. Id respectfully suggest looking for some of the documents used in the Proposition 8 Trial - (Perry v Schwarzenegger). Wikipedia may give you guidance for where to get more info. The trial transcript is public and they do talk about the discrimination LGBT individuals face and its potential impact on mental health.

Perhaps contact one of the LGBT friendly doctors previously referred to here or the lgbt doctors website, or the GMHS outreach team 01 8734952 gmhpoutreach@eircom.net and see if they can put you in touch with someone.

Sir Ophiuchus

GLEN produced a report on national LGBT well-being, a copy of which can be found here: http://ilga-europe.org/home/guide/country_by_country/ireland/supporting_lgbt_lives_key_findings_national_lgbt_well_being_survey

Annasopra

GLEN have produced a number of research documents

www.glen.ie/page.aspx?contentid=52&name=health_and_well_being

www.glen.ie/page.aspx?contentid=49&name=glen_publication

The HSE and equality authority have done some good research as well - when you are doing searches you may find stuff under LGB as well as LGBT because health needs for trans people are very different - If you are going to look at trans issues The equality authority did research in 2004 that might be useful

Brods

My first thought was mental health/suicide/depression. Or you could look at substance abuse (drugs and alcohol).

Pud Med search for gay depression has >300 papers and 35 review articles so there's alot of info out there, but you'd need to be in college or something to have access to the journals. If you can't access them and PM me and I'll have a look about sending you on a few.

gaeilgeboy

Sensationalist headlines much? :eek:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13295300

Bottle_of_Smoke

gaeilgeboy wrote: »

Sensationalist headlines much? :eek:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13295300

How do you think they should have phrased it? I can think of a lot worse. Can only imagine what will be in the tabloids tomorrow

Sir Ophiuchus

Actually, no, that's a particularly restrained headline. All they said was that gay men reported higher cancer rates. Which is true. They even pointed out all the limiations of the study in the article. As science reporting goes, that's excellent.

Also, it comes with an awesome picture.

spurious

Sir Ophiuchus wrote: »

All they said was that gay men reported higher cancer rates. Which is true.

Could that mean gay men go to the doctor more and thus end up in the system?

AndrewJD

spurious wrote: »

Could that mean gay men go to the doctor more and thus end up in the system?

It could be that they go earlier, contributing to better survival rates, but at some point you will end up in the system. Very very few people drop dead of cancer with no prior diagnosis. Interesting story though.