Havrede Hill says, “Lesbians, or women who partner with women, are not at an increased risk for breast cancer due to their sexual orientation, but, there are risk factors that must be considered”
By“Lesbians, or women who partner with women, are not at an increased risk for breast cancer due to their sexual orientation but there is a higher amount of risk factors among women who partner with women including higher rates of obesity, alcoholism, smoking and fewer to no children. Having no children or having fewer children limits the protective benefits that women gain from hormonal changes during pregnancy, labor as well as the excretion of carcinogenic materials that are stored in fatty tissues of the breast,” according to Havrede Hill, Breast Health Program Director with Compass, the gay and lesbian community center of the Palm Beaches, in a news segment about breast health for lesbian women,www.cbs4.com (Miami-Ft. Lauderdale), Feb. 15.
The LGBT Cancer Project http://www.lgbtcancer.com cautions that much more research is needed. We have yet to rule out how behaviour issues among Lesbian women, such as smoking, obesity and diminished frequency and occurance of OBY-Gyn consultantions, might lead to diminished early detection testing and exposure to cancer risks.
I whole-heartedly agree with The LGBT Cancer Project’s stance that cautions against behavioral attributes related to an increase in LGBT women’s breast cancer incidence without more research. The above comments I made refer to the limited data available and not a blame-the-victim perspective. LGBT women’s health in general has been largely under-researched and LGBT women are largely underserved with regard to health care. The institutionalized stigma, homophobia, and heteronormativity are all aspects that contribute widely to a lack of research and access to care for LGBT women’s health (I said that too, but that didn’t make the news).