Research led by Heather L. Corliss from San Diego State University's Graduate School of Public Health, California, reports that homosexual women have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D). The findings were published in Diabetes Care.

The study looked at the data of 94,250 women, all of whom were registered nurses and had enrolled in the Nurses Health Study II. They were of ages 24 to 44 at the start of the study in 1989 and were followed up for type 2 diabetes incidence every 2 years till 2013. Of them, 1,267 women had self-identified as homosexual.

Analysis revealed that homosexual women had a 27% higher risk of developing T2D than heterosexual women. This difference was greatest when homosexual and heterosexual women were younger. BMI was noted to be the primary contributor to the disparity. Researchers also suggest stress as one of the other reasons. Discrimination and psychological distress are thought to negatively impact these women's health, increasing the risk of health problems.

Public health and clinical efforts to prevent, detect, and manage obesity and T2D among homosexual women are warranted.

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