Lack of Sleep Linked With Low Testosterone Levels

A lack of sleep will make you irritable, impulsive, unable to concentrate and lacking in energy.

But did you know that combined with low testosterone it can increase your chance of an early death?

The Research

The National Health & Nutrition Survey of 2011-2012 used known male sleep patterns to assess serum testosterone levels.

In the process the survey allowed for the physical activity and other factors which may influence the results.

How the Research Was Completed

Information regarding the sleep patterns, fitness levels and risk of morbidity was extracted from the above survey.

Alongside this the serum testosterone levels were examined and collated with each individual.

In addition, univariate and multivariate linear regression helped to identify the link between sleep, fitness, testosterone and risk of death.

The survey consisted of 9,756 people with 2,672 of them being males aged at least 16 years old. The average age was 45.9.

The average serum testosterone level was 410.90 ng/dl with an average sleep of 6.9 hours.

The Results

Serum testosterone levels consistently dropped by 6.376 ng/dl per hour of sleep lost.

Equally as worrying was the fact that testosterone levels also dropped by 2.147 ng/dl with every additional unit of BMI.

The survey also concluded that the level of physical activity undertaken by participants directly affected the univariate linear regression but not the multivariate linear regression.

The Bottom Line

Low levels of sleep and high BMI both contribute to low testosterone levels. In turn these increase the risk of death through the body being unable to function efficiently.

More research needs to be completed to collaborate these results and there must be an emphasis on how diet and exercise affect overall health in conjunction with sleep and BMI levels.