Earlier this week Instinct reported on some good medical news for our community, with the rate of monkeypox infections dropping significantly. But you win some and you lose some. Now a study conducted by Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center is reporting that gay men are TWICE as likely than our heterosexual counterparts to be diagnosed with an extremely painful disease. You know because of our “high risk sexual activity.” [their words not mine] But hold the phone because if you look closely at this study it seems that once again our community is being unfairly stigmatized.
IBD, or inflammatory bowel disease, is a term that describes disorders involving long-standing chronic inflammation of tissues in your digestive tract. Types of IBD include ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. The report, printed in the medical journal GUT and reported on by SciTech Daily explains,
“Between 2002 and 2022, the researchers analyzed self-reported data from individuals treated at 58 healthcare organizations in the United States. According to the data, 0.8% of individuals with a diagnosis of high-risk same-sex activity had Crohn’s disease, and 1.26% had ulcerative colitis. These results were contrasted with those of males who participate in high-risk heterosexual behavior, of whom 0.49% had Crohn’s disease and 0.52% had ulcerative colitis.”
@Elsevier_Med It’s one thing to use a MSM patient for an STI case, it’s another to not even include alternative differentials.
Gay men can also get cancer, diverticulitis, anal fissures, IBD…. This contributes to medical stigma and poorer health outcomes in LGBTQIA+ patients pic.twitter.com/JEMmBSvPHE
— Imogen Hines (@Imi_cycles) August 5, 2020
Related: A haven for the LGBTQ community, Florida encourages a vaccine against a new foe
Here is where the problems begin, this high-risk activity they are talking about in the study is made up of two, only two, factors:
*sexual contact without barrier protection
*having several sexual partners.
I didn’t realize not using a condom qualifies as high risk, and just how many qualify as several? Is three several? Obviously, I am not a doctor or a scientist but it does look like once again the STI stigma is rearing its ugly head. Emad Mansoor, study lead author and assistant professor at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and UH said,
“To our knowledge, this is the first large population-based study that demonstrates a higher prevalence of IBD in men who engage in high-risk same-sex sexual activity. Our study is expected to open a new field of research into gastrointestinal inflammatory conditions.”
I’ve been biting my tongue since I saw this letter. Thank you @Chris_Velez_MD for pointing out why @Gut_BMJ should have not published this flawed data in such a reputable journal. This has contributed to stigma towards gay men and equated IBD to an STI. We should do better.
— Victor Chedid, MD (@VictorChedidMD) October 1, 2022
SciTech Daily also reported that these will be further researched and participants will continue to be studied over time. What do we think Instincters? Another flawed study? Is sex with a condom high-risk?
{**This post is solely the opinion of this contributing writer and may not reflect the opinion of other writers, staff, or owners of Instinct Magazine.”}
Sources: SciTech Daily
I know this might sound weird but I know more straight men who have IBD than I do gay men, 7:1