Can Lack Of Sleep Cause Erectile Dysfunction? – Introduction
Erectile dysfunction is one of the most common issues that plague millions of men around the world. It refers to the inability to get or keep an erection. It’s impossible to have sex because you can’t. ED is caused by many factors, like diabetes, heart disease, mental illness, etc. In the last few years, interest has surged over sleep-related erectile dysfunction. The body’s most fundamental work, sleep, is one of those processes. Disruption can have grave health and psychological consequences. We use the evidence in this paper to try to identify whether sleep deprivation causes ED.
Sleep is a highly intricate physiological mechanism, required for the body to function effectively. Adults should sleep 7-9 hours each night. The body passes through multiple stages of sleep, including rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM). These are vital for tissue repair, hormone regulation, and memory formation. Any disturbance to the sleep cycle can have a variety of adverse effects on the body, from mood swings to cognitive decline and chronic disease.
A number of studies have shown that poor sleep quality increases risk for ED in men. When researchers at the University of Chicago examined the effect of ED, they found that men with OSA, a sleep condition that causes breathing to stop while one sleeps, were more likely to develop it than men without OSA. In the paper, they also reported that men with severe OSA were more likely to have ED than those with mild or moderate OSA. That’s because OSA causes a drop in blood oxygen, damaging the blood vessels and nerves that are involved in erectile function.
Another study, in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, looked at sleep quality and erectile function in middle-aged men. This found that men with poor sleep quality were more likely to develop ED than those with good sleep quality. The researchers also observed that ED became more severe as the quality of sleep declined. From this research, it is clear that poor sleep is closely associated with erectile dysfunction.
In addition, a team of researchers from the University of California discovered that men who slept less often were more likely to experience ED than men who slept longer. They also observed that men who had reported less sleep had lower testosterone, a hormone necessary for sex. Low testosterone has been implicated in erectile dysfunction, and sleep deprivation also impacts testosterone levels.
The ways in which sleep deprivation can lead to erectile dysfunction remain poorly understood. Yet, some hypotheses assert that poor sleep causes changes in hormones, including cortisol and testosterone, involved in the erection. Insufficient sleep also interferes with the body’s ability to maintain blood flow, which plays an essential role in producing and maintaining an erection. Further, sleep loss causes exhaustion and diminished libido, all contributing to ED.
One crucial aspect to keep in mind here is that, while sleep deprivation is associated with erectile dysfunction, the correlation probably works both ways.
Lack of Sleep and ED:
Sleep disturbances have been linked to ED in several studies. For example, in a survey of more than 800 men, men with low sleep quality were more likely to experience ED than men with high sleep quality (atal et al., 2019). In a separate, longer-distance study of more than 2,000 men, brief sleep was linked to higher rates of ED, even after adjustment for other potential confounders (Jannini et al., 2011).
Sleep is associated with ED, possibly due to the way sleep affects hormonal regulation (most significantly testosterone). Testosterone is one of the most crucial hormones to your sexual health, and it naturally fluctuates over the course of the day, peaking around morning. Insufficient sleep has been linked to decreased testosterone, a factor that can contribute to ED (Luboshitzky et al., 2002).
ED and Sleep:
As much as the literature points towards ED and poor sleep quality, there’s also some evidence that ED is associated with poor sleep quality. In particular, men with ED can suffer from changes in the sleep circuitry, such as diminished rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and delayed wakefulness.
In a recent study of more than 400 men, ED patients reported less good sleep, including less REM sleep and increased wakefulness post-sleep, than unimpaired subjects (kerstedt et al, 2009). In another study of more than 1,000 men, ED men reported more problems initiating and maintaining sleep, as well as excessive daytime sleepiness, than un-ED men (Shiri et al., 2010).
The ED-sleep association could be related to ED’s influence on psychological symptoms such as anxiety and depression. Men suffering from ED may also have psychological problems leading to insufficient sleep (McCabe et al, 2016).
Conclusion: Can Lack Of Sleep Cause Erectile Dysfunction?
To sum up, sleep deprivation has evidence for erectile dysfunction. Poor sleep results in changes in hormone release, loss of libido, and blood flow changes, all of which can affect erection. On this front, having good sleep hygiene and a proper management of these types of sleep disorders may be the key to preventing and treating ED. Additionally, treating psychological issues (including stress and anxiety) can improve both sleep and sexual function. We don’t know what, besides the current study, might explain these correlations.
