Medical experts will soon be able to address many of the health problems that are specific for the gay community, as a new Pride LGBT app helps researchers conduct the largest health study ever. Apple’s smartphones technology was favored to other companies due to CEO Tim Cook’s support for the gay community.
The health study has been designed by Mitchell Lunn and colleagues to identify potential problems of the LGBT community and their causes. The director of the University of California at San Francisco told the press that the survey focuses on aspects related to HIV/AIDS, smoke, obesity, cancer and mental wellness.
The initiative was adopted in the wake of the United States Supreme Court’s decision to acknowledge same-sex marriages. The recent talks have raised many questions that have remained long unanswered, such as whether their sexual preferences are somehow linked to their physical or mental health.
LGBT advocates have welcomed the recent initiative. They told the press that they will promote the health study among the members of the community because the research is expected to have a positive outcome for them.
Moreover, the smart app eliminates many of the problems that homosexuals have had in the past. They no longer have to sign up within a medical facility to take part in the study program and, thus, their identity is protected. This last aspect is of great importance particularly for those individuals, who have not yet confessed their sexual preferences.
This is not the only study that has been conducted with the help of iPhone apps. A past research carried out with the help of iPhone’s ResearchKit app has had very good results due to the large number of participants that have agreed to take part in the experiment.
Approximately 11,000 iPhone users have signed up for the heart research program in just one day using their iPhones. Scientists have stated that this was the largest group of respondents that has ever been gathered by scientists.
The Institute of Medicine has underlined the need of a similar study many times before. In 2011, the institute declared that many of the special needs that the gay community has are left unaddressed because no organization has taken the time to identify these needs.
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