Diabetes - Sexuality And Health Problems: Womens Sexual Health

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Diabetes

Unchecked, diabetes can be devastating to sexual function. About 35%–50% of men with diabetes experience erectile dysfunction. The disease contributes to erectile problems in at least two ways: It can impair the nerves that instruct the arteries of the penis to dilate, and it can restrict blood flow to the penis by damaging the blood vessels. People with diabetes often have high blood pressure and high levels of cholesterol and other fats in the blood — all of which may further damage blood vessels and impede blood flow.

Among people with diabetes, erectile dysfunction usually develops gradually over a period of months or years. At first, the erection may not be as rigid as it had been or the erection can't be sustained. Sometimes, erectile dysfunction is the first sign that a man has diabetes.

Carefully controlling blood sugar can help prevent the vascular and neurological complications that contribute to sexual problems. But even with proper treatment, men who have diabetes are three times as likely as other men to develop erectile dysfunction.

For women, the sexual effects of diabetes are more subtle, but they can be equally distressing. Diabetes can damage blood vessels and nerves, interfering with clitoral sensation and vaginal lubrication and causing difficulties with arousal and orgasm. The disease may also cause low libido. In addition, high blood sugar contributes to frequent yeast and bladder infections, which can make sex uncomfortable or impractical for long stretches during treatment.

Many men with diabetes can take pills for erectile dysfunction, although these drugs are less effective for diabetes-related erectile dysfunction than for other causes. Studies have found that while approximately 70% of men with erectile dysfunction from other causes responded well to Viagra, only 57% of diabetic men with erectile dysfunction reported improvement. Other treatments — including drugs delivered by injection or suppository, vacuum erection devices, and penile prostheses — appear to be more helpful for diabetic men.

Last updated:	January 23, 2007