How Diabetes Can Affect Female Sexuality?

Table of contents:

How Diabetes Can Affect Female Sexuality?
How Diabetes Can Affect Female Sexuality?

Video: How Diabetes Can Affect Female Sexuality?

Video: How Diabetes Can Affect Female Sexuality?
Video: Hi9 | Sexual Problems in diabetes for Women | Dr. Lakshmi Lavanya Alapati | Endocrinologist 2024, March
Anonim
Diabetes and female sexuality
Diabetes and female sexuality

When referring to diabetes in the context of sexual dysfunction, erectile dysfunction is most often referred to. And this is true - after all, compared with men without diabetes, the risk of developing in patients is three times higher. However, the effect of diabetes on the sexual sphere in women is much less studied.

The content of the article

  • 1 Depressing statistics
  • 2 The effect of the disease on the female genital area
  • 3 Studies by Iranian scientists
  • 4 How to be?

Fortunately, the situation has begun to change in recent years. And now researchers know a lot more about how diabetes affects the intimate sphere of women.

Dismal statistics

Diabetes is one of the most serious diseases. According to statistics, in the west about 11% of the adult population suffer from it. In Russia, the number of people with diabetes is officially estimated at 4.3 million, although researchers believe that this number is about 8 million. And also about 30 million people suffer from prediabetes.

This disease significantly increases the risk of dangerous conditions and complications - heart disease, stroke and kidney failure. Diabetes is the cause of blindness and amputation of the legs and feet.

The disease is known to have two types - 1 and 2. In the first case, we are talking about an autoimmune condition that develops since childhood. This type of diabetes causes the cells in the pancreas to malfunction, which produce the hormone insulin. To survive, type I diabetics have to inject insulin every day. However, this category includes only 5% of patients.

The remaining 95%, or 19 out of 20 diabetics, suffer from type 2. Their pancreas makes enough insulin, but the body becomes "insulin resistant" and cannot use it properly. This is usually due to obesity.

Some diabetics in this category can, in principle, be relieved of the need to take medication if they manage to lose weight. Previously, type 2 was called "adult". However, as people of different age groups become susceptible to obesity, now type 2 diabetes can develop in adults.

Insulin allows glucose to move from the bloodstream to the cells of the body. In type 2 diabetes, this process is disrupted and blood sugar levels become abnormally high.

diabetes affects sexuality
diabetes affects sexuality

Why is this causing problems? Imagine that you accidentally spill a glass of cola in a movie theater. The floor has become sticky, so now you can't do without the help of a cleaning lady. The same thing happens in the blood vessels. Sugar makes blood sticky and blood vessels stick together. Circulatory disorders are especially dangerous in those areas where the largest number of capillaries are concentrated.

That is why diabetes leads to blindness, gangrene. Diabetes also affects nerve health. In the penis, clitoris, vagina endings become less sensitive. The blood supply is also disrupted. The result is sexual dysfunction.

The effect of the disease on the female genital area2

Primarily, diabetes causes problems with sexual arousal. In both men and women, sexual affection leads to vasodilation, increasing blood flow to the erogenous zones. Diabetes affects both the ability of the nervous system to dilate these vessels and the blood supply.

Another unpleasant consequence for women is vaginal dryness. When the vessels dilate, some of the blood is diffused through the capillaries into the vagina, forming a natural vaginal lubricant. However, in women with diabetes, the blood vessels dilate less and the capillaries do not function properly.

diabetes and decreased sexuality
diabetes and decreased sexuality

Dryness makes sex less comfortable, and difficulty with arousal further exacerbates the picture. As a result, diabetic women experience orgasms much less often than healthy women.

Research by Iranian Scientists 3

Scientists from Iran surveyed 150 women with type 2 diabetes in their 40s. About 79% of respondents reported problems related to the sexual sphere:

  • Difficulty with arousal - 50%
  • Vaginal dryness - 47%
  • Problems reaching orgasm - 42%.

A similar study was carried out by Dutch scientists. Their results showed that 70% of diabetic women have difficulty having sex.

It is not yet clear how prediabetes affects sexuality. However, as blood glucose levels rise, so does the risk of health problems.

How to be 4

fix reduced sexuality
fix reduced sexuality

First of all, you need to regularly visit a doctor and follow all medical prescriptions. A low-calorie diet, exercise will not hurt. Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Spend at least 1 hour a day on physical activity - exercise, dancing, housework.

Here are a few more tips for staying sexy despite diabetes:

  • To give up smoking. Smoking combined with diabetes is a veritable destroyer of blood vessels. As soon as you stop smoking, damaged blood vessels begin to heal.
  • Using a gel lubricant.
  • Using a vibrator. It allows you to enhance erotic sensations and compensate for diabetic damage to the genital nerves.

And also, do not neglect consultations with a sex therapist. This type of therapy should not be neglected. No one will watch you have sex. Therefore, give up prejudice, because this form is based on a conversation with a specially trained person.

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