Diabetes is a disorder related to your metabolism that causes frequent urination and thirst. The most common form is diabetes mellitus, which causes high levels of sugar in the blood because your body doesn't properly release or use the insulin that changes sugar into energy. The number of people with diabetes is rising and complications in people with the disease are increasing. These include heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, blindness, blood vessel damage, amputation, erectile dysfunction and even infertility.
Identification
Insulin is a hormone that helps move glucose into cells where it's turned into energy. When there's not enough insulin or it doesn't work properly to break down glucose, this results in a hormone imbalance. All the hormones in our bodies are linked so that an imbalance in one can cause an imbalance in others. When insulin isn't balanced, neither are estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. An imbalance in these hormones can cause infertility.
Expert Insight
In reports presented July 9, 2008 at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction in Spain, doctors said men with diabetes that were overweight or underweight showed sperm RNA was altered and DNA was damaged. A diabetic can lose the ability for repair of sperm DNA, and there's no way to get that ability back once it's gone.
Features
Another way diabetes can cause infertility is development of a condition called retrograde ejaculation. When diabetes damages the nerves that close the opening to the bladder during orgasm, semen is ejaculated into the bladder. Urine tests can show if this is happening. Doctors haven't yet found a way to repair this type of nerve damage, but semen can be retrieved from the bladder to be used for artificial insemination.
Considerations
Not all diabetics become infertile. It depends on diet exercise, lifestyle, smoking and genetics. Men with a normal body mass index have higher levels of normal sperm and a higher volume of sperm than men who are too thin or obese. Controlling weight gain and loss can prevent infertility in men with diabetes who are infertile because of fluctuations in body weight.
Prevention/Solution
The best way to treat infertility caused by diabetes is to control blood sugar levels. Eat protein with every meal and include protein whenever you eat carbohydrates. Avoid sugar and eat whole grains, oats, and vegetables. Exercise and take vitamins. Everyone's body reacts differently to food, so keep a chart of how foods affect your body and avoid those that cause problems.
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