Sleep Enough

Men who do not get enough sleep wake up tired and without energy. Going to work in such a state can result in poor judgment and bad business decisions. But, that is not all. Men who get less than five hours of sleep for a week show a decrease in the level of testosterone by up to 15 percent, it seems.

Optimal testosterone level is critical in male reproductive health and sexual behavior, but it is also important for maintaining muscle mass, strength, bone density and a general sense of well being and energy level. This is but one more reason why getting enough sleep is highly important.

In the letter/research report  to The Journal of American Medical Association, Professor Eve Van Cauter reported the conclusions of the study about the link between sleep restrictions and lower testosterone levels in young, healthy men. The study shows a clear link between sleeplessness and lower levels of testosterone.

Most of the testosterone is released in men during sleep. Men who do not get enough sleep, or whose sleep is fragmented and of poor quality, frequently suffer from significant testosterone deficits. In our modern society, very few people get the recommended eight to nine hours of sleep. As a consequence, teenagers are showing poor results in school and many men are showing a lack of sexual vigor, energy and muscle mass.

Aware of the link between testosterone level and energy, Unimed Pharmaceuticals Inc, a pharmaceutical manufacturer has marketed a testosterone gel which is meant to counteract fatigue, depression and low sexual drive due to low testosterone levels. They reported $144 million in sales in 2001 alone! But, Dr. Marc Blackman, clinical director at the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, believes that there is a lot we don’t know about testosterone replacement therapy. (JAMA, 2003; 289(8))

This dangerous lack of data on the long-term effects of testosterone replacement products is raising red flags from researchers, who call for large-scale studies on the long-term safety of testosterone replacement pills.

Chronic lack of sleep in our modern societies is showing dangerous effects, but instead of popping pills, which can produce more damage than good, we should reflect on the lifestyle which is making us risk our health and well-being on the altar of money and career. Ten or 12-hour work-days are common among young professionals now.

Our bodies are designed to need eight or nine hours of sleep to function optimally. These hours are spent not only replenishing energy, but in the production of a range of hormones that are crucial for our survival, testosterone being only one of them. It makes total sense to me, since everything in our bodies is related to one another.