TYPE 2 DM patients comprise about 85 percent of those with elevated blood sugar/glucose, the remaining are those with Type 1 DM, with a few women of child-bearing age having the so-called gestational diabetes only when they are pregnant.
True, as one of our avid readers texted, that Type 1 diabetics are usually thin and could be underweight while excess weight and obesity are very common among Type 2 diabetics, an issue which endocrinologists/diabetologists find problematic because of the issue on insulin resistance- meaning the person may be producing enough or sufficient insulin but the receptors in the cell membrane particularly muscle cells, are not receptive to the effects of insulin, thus, sugar/glucose cannot enter the inside of the cell for energy purposes, remaining in the blood-hyperglycemia- and thus are filtered in excessive amounts in the kidneys, thus, many glucose in the urine or glycosuria.
Blood vessel affectations in diabetes may be microvascular or macrovascular. For uncontrolled diabetes, neuropathy or nerve function abnormalities usually manifest in the first five years, starting with sensory deficits. The patient would complain of numbness and intermittent-on and off- sensation of pins and needles- hyperesthesia- especially in the distal parts of the body; the fingers, the toes. Thus, a diabetic walking barefoot might get a wound in the foot and not feel it, leading to a more serious infection, which at worst, may lead to amputations.
Much later, motor functions are affected, with some patients dropping objects they are holding or a significant decrease in muscle strength, as evidence by their weak handgrip.
Autonomic dysfunctions become a psychological disaster for the male diabetic when for all his good intentions and desire, he cannot have a satisfied penile erection to do his husbandly duties.
The penis is quite unique in the sense that it is the only organ in the male human body in which, during sexual excitation, both the arteries and veins are dilated to fill up the so-called erectile tissues in the penis- the corpus cavernosum and corpus spongiosum- which explains why, almost in an instant, a flaccid, marshmallow - soft penis qualifies as member of the hard rocks (pun intended).
Kidding aside, some of our readers, especially the males, and probably some wives, would like to know the connection of between diabetes and erectile dysfunction.
The tumescence-hardness of the penis- is as stated above due to flooding and filling up of the erectile tissue of the penis, with both veins and arteries dilating; in all other organs of the body, when the arteries are dilated, the veins constrict and vice versa.
The ability of the veins and the arteries to dilate and expand depends on a normal functioning nervous system. There are the so-called nerve fibers to the blood vessels- nervovasorum- which as part of the neuropathy, are affected in the body of the male diabetic.
And let’s not forget, that there is also the vasa vasorum, blood vessels that supply oxygen to the blood vessels themselves.
In other words, for males whose diabetes mellitus is poorly controlled, with extensive neuropathy, surely erectile dysfunction become a sad reality in their lives, which again, sad to say, even the much-touted remedies for the depressing condition, may not be of any help.
The take home message here is, once diagnosed as diabetics, male or female, please heed your doctor’s advice, take the prescribed medicines- not just the advertised supplements- and of course, dietary discipline and regular exercise would translate to a healthier you.