Weight Loss Improves Sexual Function in Diabetes

Among obese females with type 2 diabetes and sexual dysfunction, weight loss dramatically improves sexual function, according to a research published online June 11 in Diabetes Care.

Rena R. Wing, PhD, from Brown University in Providence, RI, and colleagues randomly tasked 375 overweight and overweight females with type 2 diabetes to intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) or diabetes support and education as a control. Observing that female sexual disorders are a prevalent issue in this population of females, their intimate function was analyzed via the Female Sexual Function Inventory.

The analysts found that one half of the 229 females who stated being sexually active also had women sexual dysfunction at baseline. The ILI group had significantly greater weight-loss after one year (7.6 vs. 0.45kg). Among women with sexual dysfunction, a substantially higher proportion of the ILI group continued to be sexually active (83% vs. 64%), had significantly greater improvement on total scores and most domains of the Female Sexual Function Inventory, and were considerably more prone to go through remission of sexual dysfunction (28% vs. 11%).

"Participation in ILI appeared to have beneficial influence on lovemaking functioning among overweight females with diabetes, especially in people who had female sexual dysfunction at baseline," Wing and colleagues conclude.