Sexual dysfunction in Huntington's Disease - a systematic review.

Abstract

Huntington's Disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder of which the main symptoms are motor, cognitive and behavioural problems sometimes including sexual dysfunction. To review the current knowledge on sexual dysfunction in HD. Databases of Pubmed and Scopus were searched. Only original studies performed after 1994 were included (from 1994 a genetic test = proven diagnosis). 162 publications were found, but only nine met our established criteria. The majority of patients with HD suffer from sexual disorders. The most common are: hypoactive sexual disorder (53-83% of patients), hyperactive sexual disorder (6-30%), erectile (48-74%) and ejaculatory dysfunctions (30-65%), lubrication problems (53-83%), and orgasmic dysfunction (35-78%). Results may be biased for several reasons e.g.: social taboos regarding sex lives, medications that affect sexual function, impaired self-awareness of patients, small study samples, a lack of standardised questionnaires, and a focus only on the presence of sexual problems without describing them. Sexual disorders in HD are common. This is a problem that is probably underestimated, both by patients/caregivers and physicians, who should focus more on these symptoms in order to improve patient quality of life.