Women and diabetes

• Overview
   
• Symptoms
   
• Sexual problems
• Self-help
   
• Further information

Although diabetes can have a huge impact on the quality of life of men and women, this article focuses on how the condition can affect you as a woman during pregnancy and in your sex life.

Diabetes is a long-term condition that is caused by too much glucose (sugar) in the blood¹. It's thought to affect around 2.3 million people in the UK and experts believe that another half a million more people have the condition but are not aware of it¹. Diabetes occurs when our bodies can't use glucose effectively for energy¹.

Type 1 diabetes

This affects between five and 15 percent of people with diabetes and usually develops early in life, and certainly before we hit 40^1,2.

To avoid long term complications people with diabetes need to ensure their blood glucose stays within normal limits.  Insulin injections will be required for life together with a healthy diet and regular blood tests.

Doctors are unsure about the cause, but they do understand that the immune system attacks cells in the pancreas, stopping insulin production^1,2.

Type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes happens when we don't produce enough insulin to utilise glucose, or if our bodies' cells don't react to insulin, known as insulin resistance^1,2.

Some people with type 2 diabetes can control symptoms by eating a healthy diet and monitoring their blood glucose^1,2.  To avoid long term complications people with diabetes need to ensure their blood glucose stays within normal limits.  They may need to take tablets or insulin injections as the condition progresses.

Type 2 can be known as maturity onset diabetes as it's more common among older people and is often associated with obesity^1,2.

Gestational diabetes

Some women have such high levels of glucose in their blood during pregnancy that their body cannot produce enough insulin to utilise it all^1,2. It affects around 5-10 percent of pregnant women. If you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, pregnancy can make it harder to control^1,2.

There's a risk that your unborn baby may be affected, so it is important to keep blood glucose levels under control^1,2. It usually develops in the second half of pregnancy and disappears after the baby is born. But an estimated 50% of women risk developing type 2 diabetes later on in life.

Hypoglycaemia during pregnancy

In pregnant women with diabetes insulin requirements change in early pregnancy and this can lead to severe hypoglycaemia ("hypos") and changes in the normal warning signs. This means that hypos often happen fast and without enough warning to treat the early symptoms.

There's a risk that the unborn baby may be affected, so it is important to keep blood glucose levels under control^1,2. Keeping blood glucose within the normal, healthy range (3.5 and 5.9 mmol/L and HbA1c less than 6.1%)¹ can help to reduce the chances of miscarriage, and the baby developing abnormalities.

It is important for women with diabetes to test their blood glucose regularly to make sure they are within this range for at least 3 months prior to becoming pregnant, and throughout the pregnancy. It is important to use a meter suitable for use in pregnancy and to choose a No Coding meter* to ensure the blood glucose results are as accurate as possible. (*A No Coding meter ensures accuracy when testing your blood glucose readings as it ensures that the correct code is automatically set any time a new test strip is inserted – so there are fewer steps and less chance for inaccurate results due to a miscoded meter.)