Members of the LGBTQ+ community are more likely to experience dementia, depression and strokes than straight, cisgender people, according to research published in Neurology today.
The study found that, overall, queer people were 15 percent more likely to develop these negative brain outcomes, than people who identified as heterosexual and with the gender they were assigned at birth.
"Our study found that people belonging to sexual and gender minority (SGM) groups are at increased risk of adverse brain health outcomes, including dementia and late-life depression compared to cisgender straight people," first author Shufan Huo of Yale School of Medicine told Newsweek.
"These differences persisted across several subgroups: sexual minority persons assigned male at birth and transgender women are particularly vulnerable for late-life depression.
"Sexual minority persons assigned female at birth and gender diverse persons are particularly vulnerable to dementia. The risk for stroke is only increased in transgender women."
The scientists identified a 14 percent higher risk of dementia, and 27 percent higher risk of depression, across all categories of the LGBTQ+ umbrella, but stroke risk was only found to be elevated among transgender women—by 68 percent.
They said the latter might be because of gender-affirming hormone therapy, and the effect that extra estrogen might have on the brains of transwomen.
But the study investigated associations between LGBTQ+ individuals and negative brain outcomes—not the causes behind these trends.
However, it did propose a few reasons why queer people might be more likely to experience dementia and depression, noting that depressive symptoms and psychiatric distress are risk factors for dementia, so the two might be interlinked.
They suggested that LGBTQ+ people might face discrimination in the healthcare system, leading to their health needs going unmet—or they may develop depression due to discrimination in the wider world.
"The causes for impaired brain health in the SGM population could be a complex interplay of many factors," said Huo. "Since we did not investigate the causes in our study, we can only reported observed associations."
The scientists also found that LGBTQ+ individuals were less likely than straight-cis people to have cardiovascular (heart health) risk factors, such as obesity—even though they were more likely to smoke.
They speculated that this could be because of socioeconomic privilege and exercise habits that they did not measure.
Further research should be done investigating the health outcomes of the LGBTQ+ community, the scientists concluded.
"Our study is the first that investigates these outcomes in a large, population-based cohort with information on sexual orientation and gender identity," said Huo.
"These findings underscore the need for further research focusing on the healthcare disparities affecting the SGM population.
"We hope that with better knowledge of the specific health challenges of the SGM population, we can increase awareness for those, both in the treating physicians, as well as the research community.
"We furthermore hope to inspire more research exploring the causes for the observed differences in brain health, that could be used to design interventions."
Data for this study was acquired via the All of Us Research Program. A total of 393,041 U.S. adults were included in the study, with an average age of 51.
Approximately 10 percent (39,632) of these people identified as LGBTQ+, 97 percent of whom were non-heterosexual and 11 percent of whom were transgender or non-binary.
Overall, 21,091 of the participants had a neurological disease: 11,553 had depression, 6,605 had experienced strokes, and 2,933 had dementia.
This study was supported by the American Academy of Neurology and the German Research Foundation.
Do you have a tip on a food story that Newsweek should be covering? Is there a nutrition concern that's worrying you? Let us know via science@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured in Newsweek.
Reference
Huo, S., Rivier, C. A., Clocchiatti-Tuozzo, S., Renedo, D., Sunmonu, N. A., de Havenon, A., Sarpong, D. F., Rosendale, N., Sheth, K. N., Falcone, G. J. (2024). Brain Health Outcomes in Sexual and Gender Minority Groups, Neurology 103: e209863. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000209863
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
