The sexual dysfunction in females with type 1 diabetes: Still an underestimated issue?

Abstract

Sexuality is a significant part of female life and is under the impact of various life events, factors related to reproduction, relationships and socio-cultural specifics, but is also affected by different chronic medical conditions and related treatments. Physiologically, women`s sexual functioning consists of desire, arousal, plateau, orgasm and resolution. Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) is a highly prevalent, age-related and progressive problem. It has multiple causes and dimensions including biological, psychological and interpersonal elements. Several disorders, encompassing issues with sexual desire and arousal, orgasm malfunctioning and sexual pain, can be differentiated within the FSD entity. Diabetes is considered to be a major cause of the impaired sexual function. Although women with diabetes have even frequency of cardiovascular and neurological complications as males, FSD has been paid rather less attention in research than the sexual dysfunction in men with diabetes, particularly exclusive in females with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Usually, FSD is more related to the psychosocial issues, especially depression, than to cardiovascular, metabolic and other traditional risk factors, which are more characteristic for men. The sexual difficulties among T1DM women require much more attention. Their regular annual in-depth evaluation should routinely include queries regarding the presence of depressive symptoms and their sexual functioning. *Correspondence to: Djordje S POPOVIC, Clinic for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders, Clinical Center of Vojvodina Medical Faculty, University of Novi Sad, Hajduk Veljkova 1, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia, Tel: +38163551606, +381214843758, Fax: +38121525081, E-mail: pitstop021@gmail. com; djordje.popovic@mf.uns.ac.rs; djordje.popovic@kcv.rs