Health

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LGBTQ+ Youth Are Uncomfortable In Their Own Skin: Study

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Data from a new study suggests that young LGBTQ+ people in America aren’t comfortable in their own skin — literally. The latest study results from the Trevor Project on LGBTQ Youth and Body Dissatisfaction are out. Researchers found that some LGBTQ+ youth are overwhelmingly dissatisfied with their bodies, with trans and nonbinary youth showing even higher rates. Also, LGBTQ+ youth who reported body dissatisfaction were significantly more likely to have attempted suicide in the past year than those who expressed being satisfied. The Trevor Project is a nonprofit organization that provides crisis mental health services to LGBTQ+ young people and also conducts research on […]

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Here Are the 21 States Trying to Ban Gender-Affirming Care

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Bills seeking to restrict access to gender-affirming care have been introduced in 21 states this year, and one of those states, Utah, has passed one into law.. Much of the legislation focuses on young people, although some bills go beyond this population and beyond banning surgery (genital surgery almost never performed on minors). Most seek to ban nonsurgical procedures such as the administration of hormones and puberty blockers, in addition to surgery. Several of the bills warn of dire consequences from these procedures, but in reality, both the surgical and nonsurgical treatments are endorsed as safe and effective (when age-appropriate) […]

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Questions Every Gay, Bi Man Should Ask at Their Physical

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The end of the year or the start of a new one is typically called the “annual physical” season as most are trying to take advantage of the benefit of no-cost physicals provided by most insurance coverage. The good news for most of us is that if you are insured, it’s very likely your annual physical is 100 percent covered by insurance. The better news is that many types of diseases and cancers can be caught early in the annual physical with many treatment options that will not impact your life too drastically. However, many men don’t actually undergo an […]

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Why You Should Add Doxycycline to Your Sexual Health Routine

Researchers from San Francisco and Seattle have found that Doxy PEP is an effective strategy in reducing sexually transmitted infections (STIs) like gonorrhea, chlamydia, or syphilis. Doxycycline is an antibiotic traditionally used for other bacterial infections like acne and malaria, but when used as a post-exposure prophylactic within three days after unprotected sex, it reduces infections by more than 60%.  Can you take doxycycline to prevent STDs? A clinical study conducted with the San Francisco Department of Health (SFDPH), Zuckerberg San Francisco General, University of California, San Francisco, and the University of Washington ended early when they found Doxy PEP […]

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Telemedicine provides a huge opportunity for the LGBTQ+ community

We live in a modern time where telemedicine can become one of the most significant solutions for the massive inequalities that LGBTQ+ communities have historically faced in healthcare.  When I think back on my ob/gyn residency at Stanford University, I was trained to order a pregnancy test for every patient who could become pregnant who was undergoing surgery – patients were treated the same regardless of or without a discussion about sexual orientation, gender identity, or sexual behavior. This is just one example of the gaps in our system.  I also witnessed an infertility doctor limiting his practice to married […]

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Queer Teen Girls Face Record High Levels of Sadness, Violence: CDC

Teen girls in the United States experienced record high levels of violence, sadness and suicide risk in recent years, amid “significant” and “heartbreaking” declines in youth health and well-being overall, according to data published Monday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Responses for the CDC’s bi-annual Youth Risk Behavior Survey were collected in the fall of 2021, offering the first look at trends since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Many measures were moving in the wrong direction before the pandemic. These data show the mental health crisis among young people continues,” Kathleen Ethier, director of the CDC’s division […]

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On safe consumption sites in San Francisco. Can we “re-wild” our hearts?

Elected officials, nonprofits, activists, and community leaders are pushing forward the idea of safe consumption sites in San Francisco, in order to prevent overdose deaths, improve the health of people who use drugs, and reduce outdoor and public substance use. Safe consumption sites and services are a well-accepted and effective public health intervention that exist in hundreds of cities around the world, but are slow to gain acceptance and be implemented in the U.S.   To gain traction and momentum for safe consumption services in San Francisco, in January Supervisor Hillary Ronen, from San Francisco District 9, organized a panel discussion […]

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Queer people face discrimination in health care. Here are the people changing that.

When Constance Zhou got to college, they noticed that their queer friends were struggling with mental health. But they were also struggling to find providers well-versed in sexual and gender minorities or the complicated intersection of identities that often brought both discrimination and unique therapy needs. At the same time, Zhou was working at a national suicide hotline, where many of the callers identified as LGBTQ+. “I was getting people in Texas, in the Midwest, and in the South who really didn’t have access to resources,” Zhou said. “I began to appreciate how important it is to have access to […]

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Florida Medical Boards Tighten Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Minors

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Transgender youth in Florida will no longer be able to access gender-affirming treatment — even during clinical trials. The Florida Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine adopted new rules on Friday banning hormone replacement therapy and puberty blockers for minors. Also, at a joint meeting of the boards, the Board of Osteopathic Medicine unanimously voided an exception that made it possible for young people to receive medical treatment when enrolled in studies conducted by state universities. This exception resulted from a contentious meeting last year when the two boards voted to have separate standards for different providers when providing gender-affirming medical treatment […]

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Missouri AG confirms investigation into pediatric transgender center

Missouri has launched a multi-agency investigation into a pediatric transgender center after a former case worker alleged children were being routinely prescribed puberty blockers or hormone therapy without “appropriate or accurate” mental health assessments, the state’s attorney general announced Thursday.  “We have received disturbing allegations that individuals at the Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital have been harming hundreds of children each year, including by using experimental drugs on them,” state Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a statement. “We take this evidence seriously and are thoroughly investigating to make sure children are not harmed by individuals who may be […]

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