The Impact of Diabetes on Reproductive Health

Diabetes is a fast-growing modern lifestyle disease with several people being diagnosed with Type 1 & 2 diabetes. In fact, some studies predict that Type 1 diabetes which affects younger people will see a rise of 50% across the next 10 years. With this exponential rise in diabetic cases, the cases of infertility having diabetes are also bound to increase. Diabetes can negatively impact the reproductive health of both men and women. Men who are diagnosed with diabetes are seen to have lower sperm count and semen volume, along with greater sperm DNA damage. In women, diabetes comes as a secondary condition associated with hormonal ailments like PCOS and hyperthyroidism, which introduce several challenges to conceive naturally and may also lead to complications during pregnancy. However, couples diagnosed with diabetes can still conceive, provided that diabetes is kept under control and a healthy body weight is maintained. In extreme cases,infertility treatments like IUI and IVF can help couples conceive.

Read more in today’s The Times of India, Bengaluru edtion: