Sleep Deprivation Lowers Men Sexual Desire
Sleep deprivation turns out to significantly lower testosterone levels in the body of men. As a result, sexual desire is decreased. This is concluded in a research by a team from the University of Chicago, USA.
Reduced levels of testosterone hormone have a major impact, especially in young men – including reduced libido and poor reproductive system. Not only related to sexual health problems, it also affects the formation of muscle mass and bone density to be less than maximum.
Low levels of testosterone are also associated with metabolic syndrome, namely a group of metabolic risk factors that increase the likelihood of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. The study’s findings add weight to evidence that sleep deprivation has long-term effect on hormone levels.
The research team found that man who slept less than five hours in one day for a week or more have very low testosterone levels. This is much lower when compared with men who gets enough sleep. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), found that significantly reduced levels of a hormone also makes a person look 15 years older.
“Low testosterone levels is associated with reduced health and physical strength, which also may occur due to lack of sleep,” said Professor Eve Van Cauter, lead researcher, according to Telegraph.
Professor Van Cauter has studied the effects of sleep deprivation for over 10 years. In his research, he involved 10 young men with an average age of 24 years old, have a healthy body and undergo a rigorous test.
The tests are conducted to determine the endocrine and psychiatric disorders and sleep problems. They were asked to spend three nights in the sleeping laboratory for more than 10 hours. Then, during the eight subsequent nights they slept less than 5 hours.
The researchers then took blood samples every 15 to 30 minutes for 24 hours on the last day, from 10 hours of sleep phase and the last day of the phase of sleep five hours. They were also asked to describe their feelings.
The study found that testosterone levels are significantly reduced after one week of sleep deprivation. Men who experience a decrease in testosterone levels also express their feelings became less calm.
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