Diabetes and female sexual dysfunction: moving beyond "benign neglect"
Ranganath Muniyappa1, Margaret Norton, Marian E Dunn
1SUNY Downstate Medical Center and Kings County Hospital, 450 Clarkson Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
Current Diabetes Reports
|June 3, 2005
Summary
Diabetes significantly impacts female sexual arousal, causing issues like vaginal dryness and pain. Unlike men, factors like age or diabetes duration do not predict dysfunction in women.
Area of Science:
- Endocrinology
- Gynecology
- Psychology
Background:
- Female sexual response is complex, involving desire, arousal, and orgasm.
- Diabetes mellitus can negatively affect all stages of female sexual function, particularly arousal.
- Associated symptoms include decreased genital sensation, lubrication issues, vaginal dryness, infections, and dyspareunia.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the impact of diabetes on female sexual response.
- To identify predictors of sexual dysfunction in women with diabetes.
- To review current management strategies for female sexual dysfunction in this population.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on female sexual dysfunction and diabetes.
- Analysis of factors influencing sexual response in women with diabetes.
- Comparison of predictors in women versus men with diabetes.
Main Results:
- Diabetes particularly impairs arousal through reduced genital sensation and lubrication.
- Depression is a predictor of sexual dysfunction in women.
- Age, diabetes duration, glycemic control, and complications do not predict sexual dysfunction in women, unlike in men.
- Objective measures of genital sensation/lubrication do not correlate with subjective arousal disorder.
- Low androgens/estrogens and certain medications may be implicated.
- Prevalence of female sexual dysfunction can be as high as 50%.
Conclusions:
- Female sexual dysfunction is highly prevalent in women with diabetes.
- Factors predicting sexual dysfunction differ between genders.
- Management may include psychological counseling, lubricants, and hormone therapy in the absence of definitive treatments.
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