Ilan Meyer, a senior scholar at UCLA's School of Law, offers an explanation for these disparities through the "Theory of Minority Stress, " which suggests that these health inequities may be rooted in discrimination, with negative health behaviors acting as coping mechanisms for repeated exposure to stigma-related stress.

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One theory blames oxidative stress, caused by the onslaught of nasty molecules known as free radicals.

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However, all the researchers involved are keen to stress that their finding falls a long way short of proof for this theory.

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