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currentsinbiology:

This is not good! ALL women need to have routine pap smears to ensure health.  Also, DO NOT think that having gotten a HPV vaccine means that you can forgo these tests. It does not mean you can’t get a different strain of HPV and cervical cancer. The vaccine has never been shown to prevent cervical cancer and it is not know how long it prevents HPV infections of those few strains it covers.

Lesbian women less likely than heterosexuals to get annual pap smears

Lesbian
women are less likely than heterosexual and bisexual women to get
timely pap smears, according to a new paper from sociologists at Rice
University.
                               

“Cancer-Screening
Utilization Among U.S. Women: How Mammogram and Pap-Test Use Varies
Among Heterosexual, Lesbian and Bisexual Women” examines the
relationship between cancer tests and sexual orientation among 2,273 lesbian, 1,689 bisexual and 174,839 heterosexual women interviewed in 15 U.S. states between 2000 and 2010.

Alexa Solazzo, a
graduate student in the Department of Sociology at Rice and the study’s
lead author, said a possible explanation for the results may be linked
to birth control. Women who use contraceptives are often required by
doctors to have annual pap smears.

“Many doctors require women who seek a birth-control prescription to
have had a recent pap test,” Solazzo said. “Women who don’t have sex
with men might theoretically have less of a need for birth control
than women who do have sex with men (i.e., heterosexual or bisexual
women). Thus, they may be less likely to seek care at an OB-GYN and
receive a pap test.”

Alexa L. Solazzo et al.
Cancer Screening Utilization Among U.S. Women: How Mammogram and Pap
Test Use Varies Among Heterosexual, Lesbian, and Bisexual Women, Population Research and Policy Review (2017). DOI: 10.1007/s11113-017-9425-5

 

currentsinbiology:

LGBTQ social policy can be a life or death issue.

Drop in teenage suicide attempts linked to legalisation of same-sex marriage

Legalisation of same-sex marriage in US states has been linked to a drop in suicide attempts among teenagers.

Researchers say suicide attempts among high school students fell by
an average of 7% following the implementation of the legislation. The
impact was especially significant among gay, lesbian and bisexual
teenagers, for whom the passing of same-sex marriage laws was linked to a
14% drop in suicide attempts.

Julia Raifman, co-author of the research from Johns Hopkins
University, said she hoped the research would help to draw wider
attention to the scale of the issue among sexual minorities. “I would
hope that policymakers and the public would consider the potential
health implications of laws and policies affecting LGBT rights,” she added.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
suicide is the second leading cause of death for those aged between 15
and 24, with suicide rates much higher among those who identify as
sexual minorities than heterosexual students.

“This study was really motivated by evidence that there are large
disparities across domains of health that affect LGBT adolescents,” said
Raifman. “I was interested in whether larger structural issues were
potentially leading to those disparities.”

In states where same-sex marriage legalisation was passed, suicide
attempts fell by four percentage points on average, corresponding to a
14% drop compared to states where it was not.
Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

currentsinbiology:

What’s the Healthiest Way to Cook Your Veggies?


Vegetables are chock-full of essential vitamins and minerals, but how
should you eat them to get the most nutritious bang for your buck? Raw?
Sauteed? Frozen? You might want to eat those fresh green beans right
away, for one — flash-frozen green beans kept for months have up to
three times more vitamin C than week-old beans kept in the fridge. And
did you know that oil-based dressing and avocados can help you absorb
more nutrients from that kale salad.


(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)