When you’re married, your husband’s lack of interest in the bedroom can have a huge impact on your relationship wellness, as well as your confidence. However, researchers from the University of Chicago have found something that can give his sex drive a kick in the right direction: a good night’s sleep.
It is already known that testosterone isn’t only intrinsic to sexual health, but overall wellbeing and osteoporosis prevention. However, this US study is the first to show that poor sleep patterns can significantly reduce a man’s levels of testosterone, which results in a lack of sex drive, as well as poor reproduction. Men with low levels of the hormone can also fail to build enough strength through muscle mass and bone density, leading to low energy levels, poor concentration and fatigue, and even metabolic syndrome – a cluster of metabolic risk factors that increase the chances of developing heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.
According to the study, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), men who get less than five hours sleep a night for a week or longer have far less levels of testosterone than those who get a good night’s rest, and the testosterone levels of these sleep-deprived men are more akin to someone 15 years older. Professor Eve Van Cauter, who led the study, said, ‘Low testosterone levels are associated with reduced wellbeing and vigour, which may also occur as a consequence of sleep loss.’
‘As research progresses, low sleep duration and poor sleep quality are increasingly recognised as endocrine disrupters,’ she added. Professor Van Cauter, who has been studying the effects of sleep deprivation for more than 10 years, continued, ‘(A level of ) 15% is not an insignificant amount, since it is about the amount that occurs with normal aging by 10 to 15 years.’
For the study, 10 young men with an average age 24, who were lean and in good health, were subjected to a number of ‘rigorous tests’, which screened for endocrine or psychiatric disorders and sleep problems. They then spent three nights in a laboratory sleeping for up to 10 hours, and the following eight nights for less than 5 hours. After just one week of sleep deprivation, testosterone levels were significantly reduced and the men reported a decline in their sense of wellbeing and their mood. According to Van Cauter, who heads the university’s medicine programme, male vigour fell more every day as sleep restrictions were introduced.
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