Abstract
The article focuses on the influence of diabetes mellitus on women's sexuality. The results of the current studies on this topic have shown higher occurrence of sexual dysfunction in diabetic females, in comparison with healthy controls of similar age.
Moreover, it seems that etiopathogenetic basis of sexual dysfunction in females is somewhat different from that in male patients; therefore the therapeutic possibilities might also be diverse. According to recent research data, it seems that psychological factors and particularly the level of depression play dominant role in the development of sexual dysfunction in diabetic females.
So far there have not been convictive data on significant relationship between femal sexual dysfunction and diabetes duration or its compensation, nor with chronic diabetic complications, which is surprising. It might however be a question of not always ideal design of the studies.
On the other hand, the data from animal models suggest that organic component might also be present. In females the situation is of course furthermore potentiated by psychological factors (which are also responsible for sexual dysfunction in otherwise healthy females).
In this article we have made an attempt to emphasize the importance of sexual dysfunction in women treated for diabetes as well as to suggest which way should further investigation proceed to improve the quality of life of our patients.