Poor Sleep Lowers Testosterone in Older Men

Getting a good night’s sleep is becoming more important, according to researchers. Some months ago it was reported that sleeping longer made it less likely you will gain weight. Before that, news came that diabetics have improved glucose control if they sleep well. And now comes a publication in the journal Sleep that shows that the amount of nighttime sleep is linked to morning testosterone levels.

Circulating levels of testosterone decrease with advancing age. The researchers enrolled 12 healthy men aged 64 to 74. They spent two nights in the sleep lab, and had their wrist movements monitored at night to determine the amount of sleep for 6-9 nights at home. Three morning blood samples from each volunteer were pooled to provide testosterone levels.

Sleep time in the lab agreed well with the wrist-monitor results at home. The amount of nighttime sleep predicted the morning total and free blood testosterone – the more sleep, the higher the testosterone level.

Unfortunately, one of the so-called ‘exclusion criteria’ was the habit of daytime napping. Many men of a certain age like to have a nap after lunch – I do, for one. So maybe the stricture to ‘get a good night’s sleep’ may not apply to everyone. More research is needed!