Diabetes impairs but does not end sex

CHICAGO, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Many middle-aged and older adults with diabetes are sexually active but their activity might not be very rewarding, U.S. researchers suggest.

Lead author Dr. Stacy Lindau, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology and of medicine at the University of Chicago, says the study involved nearly 2,000 people ages 57-85. The study finds almost 70 percent of men with diabetes who have a partner and 62 percent of partnered women with diabetes engaged in sexual activity two or three times a month -- a level comparable that of those without diabetes.

Men diagnosed with diabetes were more likely to express a lack of interest in sex and to experience erectile dysfunction, while both men and women report a higher rate of orgasm difficulties, such as climaxing too quickly or not at all.

"Patients and doctors need to know that most middle age and older adults with partners are still sexually active despite their diabetes," Lindau says in a statement. "However, many people with diabetes have sexual problems that are not being addressed."

Almost half of the women do not have a partner and those who have partners are more likely than men to avoid sex because of a problem and less likely to discuss such as problem with a doctor.

The findings are published in the journal Diabetes Care.