patient care to treat sexual problems of diabetics was extremely poor

At Ukmedix News we know that one group of men who are especially likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction are diabetics. We also are aware that all good doctors know this too, however research shows that many of them never get around to discussing the sexual problems that their patients are likely to experience.

Recent research presented at the 69th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association shows that almost 60 percent of men who go to a diabetes clinic say that they were never questioned about their sexual function and that 50 percent of diabetics with impotence never mentioned it to their doctor or tried to get help to cure it. The researchers said that the majority of the diabetic men who were looked at in this study suffered from erectile dysfunction.

Doctor Ana Rakovac Tisdall who is the Endocrinology Research Registrar at Connolly Hospital in Ireland explained that these results were surprising and that the level of patient care to treat sexual problems of diabetics was extremely poor. She said that while she routinely questioned diabetes patients about their sexual function she was aware that the majority of her colleagues did not and that her study sought to quantify the problem. Doctor Tisdall said that she felt that erectile dysfunction was an extremely important issue to deal with because many of her male patients had told her that the condition had undermined their marriages and in some cases ruined their lives.

In the diabetic clinic where she works a random sample of men produced a figure of 70 percent as suffering from erectile dysfunction. Her study which evaluated the men using the International Index of Erectile Function questionnaire showed that in around 25 percent of men the condition was classified as severe meaning that erections were nonexistent.

Over 30 percent of the diabetic men said that they found the sexual problems embarrassing and that is why they did not discuss it with their doctor.  From our research at Ukmedix News we know that if a doctor initiates a discussion sensitively about erectile function they are more likely to get honest feedback from their patients. From our online consultations at the Ukmedix web site we know that many men suffer in silence and prefer to communicate with a doctor this way rather than have to admit their embarrassing problem face to face.
Many of the doctors questioned for Doctor Tisdall's research said that they did not ask their male patients about erectile function because they either forgot, ran out of time or thought that it might be not be appropriate.

Doctor Tisdall said that questioning about erectile dysfunction should be an intrinsic part of all diabetic men's medical reviews in the same way as they are questioned about the other complications of diabetes.