A number of scientific advances over the past several decades have led to people living longer than ever before, and as a result, our aging population is booming. In the United States, the proportion of the population aged 65 years and older is projected to more than double over the next 25 years—from 35 million in 2000 to 71 million in 2030. Women currently represent nearly 60% of people over age 65.
As women age their concerns about health grow—and rightfully so given that women are at greater risks for some health conditions. For example, according to the Illinois Department on Aging, heart disease is the No. 1 leading cause of death among older women. Women are twice as likely as men to die within the first year of having a heart attack. The second leading cause of death for women is cancer—specifically lung and breast cancer—and the third leading cause of death is stroke. Women who have hypertension or diabetes are at greater risk for heart disease and strokes.
Like all women, lesbians are at risk for health problems associated with aging. Some evidence suggests that they may even be at greater risk for some age-related health problems. For example, because lesbians as a group are less likely to have been pregnant, more likely to drink alcohol and smoke—and more likely to be overweight—their risk of breast cancer may be greater than the risk among women in the general population. However, we need much more research before we can say much of anything for sure about lesbians' risks for breast cancer or the other leading causes of death.
In the Chicago Health and Life Experiences of Women (CHLEW) study we are collecting information about these and many other health concerns of lesbians. We are happy to report that, in general, the 450 lesbians in our study are overall very healthy—in fact, when we first interviewed them in 2000-2001, 74% of them rated their health as good or excellent; only 7% said that their health was poor. Very few women in the study reported being diagnosed with breast cancer ƒ%), heart disease Ɣ%), or diabetes ƕ%).
However, 17% said that they have high blood pressure (hypertension). One of the reasons for these low rates of problems is that the women are relatively young—the average age of the women in the study is 39 years (only about a quarter of them are over 45 years old). As they get older, lesbians, like other women, face higher risk for these serious health problems. Because we have not yet discovered the cure for aging it is important that we take care of ourselves in order to reduce these risks and improve our overall quality of life. Among the most important ways that we can take care of ourselves include getting regular exercise, not smoking, and using sodium (salt) and alcohol in moderation.
We are currently conducting follow-up interviews with women in the CHLEW study. We hope that this study, and others like it, will provide much needed information about health concerns of lesbians. Research such as the CHLEW would not be possible without the support of the Chicago lesbian community and of individual women like you.
The overall success of the CHLEW will depend largely on our ability to locate and re-interview women who participated in our first round of interviews in 2000-2001. We have lost contact with 35-50 of the 450 women who were interviewed in the first phase of the study. If you or anyone you know participated in the first phase of the study please call our toll-free number 1-866-933-3459 or contact us via e-mail (chlewstudy@yahoo.com). No one can replace the original participants (we cannot add lesbians to the study who did not participate in 2000-01), so it is critically important that we locate each of the missing participants. We very much appreciate your help and look forward to bringing you more interesting and useful information about important health issues in our community.
