A new study has shown that LGBTQ+ individuals are at a higher risk of developing neurological conditions, such as dementia and depression, in later life compared to their cisgender and heterosexual counterparts.
Neurology, the American Academy of Neurology’s medical journal, analyzed data from more than 393,000 people over 51 in the United States, including nearly 40,000 LGBTQ+ individuals. Researchers found that a total of 21,091 people had a neurological disease. Of those, 11,553 people had late-life depression, 6,605 people had strokes and 2,933 people had dementia.
After accounting for factors like smoking, age, and high blood pressure — which can influence the risk of neurological diseases — researchers determined that LGBTQ+ individuals were 15% more likely to experience “adverse brain health outcomes.”
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Additionally, the study showed that LGBTQ+ individuals were 14% more likely to develop dementia than cisgender heterosexual people. Sexual and gender minorities were also found to be 27% more likely to suffer from late-life depression.
“In a world that increasingly recognizes the crucial role of equitable health care, it remains concerning how little is known about the health disparities faced by LGBTQ+ people,” Dr. Shufan Huo, PhD at the Yale School of Medicine and co-author of the study, said in a statement, “Our study looked at this group, which has been historically underrepresented in neurological research, and found that they had an increased risk of adverse brain health outcomes.”
The research also revealed that transgender women face a 68% higher risk of stroke compared to cisgender individuals.
“Correlation does not equal causation, and we do not know why these disparities exist,” Dr. Amir Ahuja, director of psychiatry at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, who was not involved in the study, told CNN. “What this does do is let us focus on this issue in particular, and message to transgender women so that we can get them into preventive care and reduce their risk factors in advance.”
The researchers emphasized that there is no evidence suggesting that being LGBTQ+ directly causes these adverse health outcomes. Rather, negative health outcomes are likely influenced by a combination of psychological, sociological, and biological factors.
“Possible reasons for these disparities could include discrimination, stress, access to health care, and policy and legal factors,” Dr. Huo explained. “Our findings underscore the need for further research focusing on the health care disparities affecting the LGBTQ+ community.”
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