Do bisexuals have health concerns that are different from everyone else, or ignored by the overall mainstream and gay and lesbian communities?  

The quick answer is a resounding "yes."

And certainly these issues are not so very obvious to the mainstream health practitioners, or the experts who handle only gay, lesbian and trans issues. 

To address some of these issues, there are not only a few organizations that deal specifically with bisexual health issues, but there's a whole conference coming up this weekend to talk about the issues.

The second Bi Health Summit is kicking off Thursday, Aug. 13, and lasting throughout the day Friday, Aug. 14. This is a prelude to the LGBTI Health Summit happening from Aug. 14 to 18 in Chicago. 

There are 10 major health concerns that are particular to bisexuals, as detailed in a National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Report. 

What are some of the health concerns?

* Some stats show that bisexual youth particularly have more attempts at suicide and feel more alienated than even their gay and lesbian counterparts who have a growing social and support network around them. A suicide prevention study in Australia found that bi women and bi men were the highest percentages of suicide attempts (35 and 29 percents). Bi youth between 14 and 21, in a University of Minnesota study, were more likely to be suicidal than any other group.

* Bisexuals, because they are often self-identified, are not counted in studies or identified easily for targeted educational purposes. What people do and what they say they do are often very different things.

* Bisexual women have higher rates of breast cancer, and bi women have the highest rate of never having a PAP test to screen for cervical cancer. 

* Bisexual men who are in partnerships with women may tend to avoid the "bisexual" label and be more in the closet, which could subject them to more unsafe sexual practices, dangerous situations and mental stresses that their heterosexual counterparts would not have.

* Bisexual women in clinical and community samplings, have received lower standards of mental and health care.

* Bisexuals of any gender skew high on some studies for drug use, tobacco use, alcohol abuse and illegal drug activity. Bisexual women report the highest use of alcohol compared to hetero or lesbian women. Bi women also are shown to smoke cigarettes more as well.

* Questionable conversion or reparative therapies that supposedly convert people from same-sex attraction to opposite sex attractions often ignore the possibility of bisexuality.

* Bisexual women are known to have a higher rate of eating disorders, showing that more of them are overweight, and underweight than their hetero and lesbian counterparts.

* Bisexuals are generally an invisible group, either forgotten, ignored or deliberately left out of studies or polls or medical questionnaires because it is more complicated or muddies the studies.

* Bisexual women have a higher tendency of heart disease and risk factors for heart ailments.

* Closeted bisexual men could be more susceptible to Hepatitis, crystal meth use, HIV infection, sexually transmitted diseases and other concerns. A University of California, San Francisco study found that bi men are five times more likely to have used crystal meth than the general population.

* Bisexual women choosing to get pregnant, or seeking a doctor after they are pregnant, have faced discrimination and outright rejection from the medical establishment.

* Bisexual men and women have higher levels of depression and anxiety than heterosexuals, and in some levels similar to lesbians and gay men. 

The good news is that there is help. There are the organizations and websites below, and there's the Bi Health Summit.

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