Type 2 Diabetes - Women, Diabetes And The Estrogen Connection

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With the onset of a female's puberty and menstrual cycle, there are fluctuations in several different hormones throughout the body. Some of these affect the blood sugar levels which may be difficult to control. Maintaining these hormones levels are even difficult after the menstrual cycles become regular.

Estrogen definitely influences a woman's blood sugar levels and insulin requirements. Estrogen generally raises blood sugar, which interferes with your medication or insulin doses. This is one of the reasons estrogen-containing medications, for example, oral contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy after menopause, were once considered no-no's for women with diabetes,

A women who has been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in her reproductive years has certain aspects to take into consideration in order to minimize the effects of this disease:

1. Vaginal infections: The buildup of additional glucose or sugar, can trigger an overgrowth of yeast. Yeast infections can be easily treated once diagnosed.

2. Birth control: Birth control pills may raise the blood sugar. If contraceptive pills are taken for a period of more than one year, then the risk is even higher..

3. No desire for sex: Changes in sexual desire is observed in some women suffering from diabetes. This can occur because of vaginal infections, or due to changing hormones. These hormones not only affect a woman's sensations but her drive, as well.

Studies that looked specifically at the effect diabetes has on women and sexuality found that:

loss of libido was often caused by high blood sugar,vaginal infections and resulting pain or itching during intercourse,the fear of pain during intercourse, andnerve damage which affects blood flow to the female genitalia.

4. Vaginal changes: Type 2 diabetes can cause nerve damage, leading to vaginal dryness and difficulty in sexual arousal. It can also make intercourse painful.

5. Pregnancy: Type 2 diabetes affects the fetus as well the pregnant woman. Control of blood sugar is very important to avoid birth defects and high blood pressure of the pregnant woman. By controlling your blood sugar during pregnancy, it is possible to give birth to a healthy child. Diabetes can also cause trauma to the child during the pregnancy through to the birth. This can place the expectant mother in a high-risk category.

An important point to note here is many women develop gestational diabetes which means "diabetes during pregnancy". Gestational diabetes is not the same disease as Type 2 diabetes, it just behaves the same way. Some of the women who develop gestational diabetes will have their blood levels return to normal levels after delivery, while others will continue on with Type 2 diabetes after the birth.

6. Infertility: Though this is still a subject of debate between researchers, it is believed a woman suffering from diabetes can have hormone imbalance leading to PCOS or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (a common cause of infertility).

7. Other threats: Type 2 diabetic women are at a greater risk than men of blindness and cardiovascular disease. Estrogen loss increases all women's risk of heart disease, which is the major cause of death for postmenopausal women. However, the risk of heart disease is two to three times higher in postmenopausal women with diabetes.

There can be severe fluctuations in the blood sugar levels when the woman's body is moving towards menopause (or the time previous to menopause known as perimenopause). In these times, a woman often tends to gain weight as menopause slows down your metabolism. That means it will be easier to gain weight on fewer calories. The only way around this is to increase your activity or decrease your calorie intake.

Menopause also often masks the symptoms of low or high blood sugar. This is a good time to revisit blood sugar monitoring habits.

Type 2 diabetes also affects the timing of menopause as well as increases the risk of certain chronic illnesses.

To discover answers to questions you may be asking yourself about Type 2 Diabetes, click on this link... Natural Diabetes Treatments