Women, sex and diabetes

When most people hear the words “ diabetes” and “sexual dysfunction”, they automatically think it’s a male problem. But women with diabetes can also experience sexual problems related to their blood sugar levels.

For Dr Ann Albright, a diabetes teacher and dietician, this is not only a medical fact but a fact of life.

Albright has lived with type 1 diabetes for 41 years. She says that when sugar (glucose) isn’t under good control, a woman’s sex life can suffer.

“It’s not diabetes per se that harms your intimate life. It’s the complications of uncontrolled blood sugar levels that cause problems for both men and women - the only difference is that many women simply aren’t as aware of this complication as men are.

Albright, who is in charge of health education for the American Diabetes Association, says women are getting better at coming forward with intimacy issues, but when it comes to diabetes, most are still reluctant to talk to their GP.

Dr Loren Wissner Greene, an endocrinologist at New York University Langone Medical Center, agrees.

“Women aren’t talking to their GPs about it, GPs aren’t talking to women about it, and so for many it remains a silent problem that goes undiagnosed and untreated,” she says.

When glucose and intimacy collide

Although women with diabetes may be slow to admit there is a problem with sex, the medical community has been even slower to study the issue. It wasn’t until 1971 that a groundbreaking study was published on this subject in the US journal Diabetes.

In the study, 35% of women with diabetes reported being unable to have an orgasm during intercourse, compared with just 6% of the women who didn’t have diabetes.

Albright says one reason women with diabetes may have trouble achieving orgasm is that high blood sugars can affect vaginal lubrication.

“The lubrication issues not only can impact sensation, they also can make sex very uncomfortable, even painful,” she says.

In 1986, a major US study of women with diabetes revealed that nearly half the women in the study had a sexual problem. Of these, 32% of women reported experiencing problems with lubrication. Eighty-nine percent said the problems started after their diabetes was diagnosed.

Albright says there are many health benefits of good blood sugar control, but many women don’t realise that a better sex life may be among them.

Blood sugar and sexual desire

Lubrication can be a hugely embarrassing and intimate issue, but it’s not the only one women with diabetes may have. Dr Spyros Mezitis, an endocrinologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, says there are also important links between glucose levels and genital stimulation. This not only affects how pleasurable sex feels, but also affects a woman’s desire for sex.