Insomnia

Cutting back on sleep drastically lowers testosterone levels in young male adults. Less than five hours a night of sleep had significantly lower levels of testosterone than controls. After just one week of less than five hours a night of sleep resulted in a 10-15% decrease in testosterone levels.

Low levels of testosterone lead to low energy, reduced libido, poor concentration, and fatigue. Prolonged low levels lead to osteoporosis, loss of muscle volume and strength, and increased risk for heart disease.

Sleep Loss Lowers Testosterone Levels

Older adults with insomnia have an altered immune response to stress that increases levels of interlukin 6 up to 4 fold, which may increase the risk of illness and death. In this study that was published in February of 2012 in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, there were 83 people with an average age of 61. Twenty seven percent were poor sleepers. Stress led to a much larger increase in IL-6 in poor sleepers than in good sleepers. It appears that poor sleep in combination with stress leads to an exaggerated stress response.

The fact that there was more depression, loneliness, and more global perceived stress in the group with poor sleep, did not in itself show a difference in IL-6 levels prior to the added stress of a series of tests of verbal and working memory.

It is imporant to find the underlying cause for insomnia and resolve it using cognitive or somatic therapies if we're going to avoid the added inflammation caused by additional stress. We also know that using hypnotics is associated with increase mortality and with increased risk of cancer!

Insomnia Linked to Inflammation

According to a 150,000 person study the March issue of the journal, Sleep, aging does not seem to be related to poor sleep. Actually, sleep seemed to improve as people aged and people in their 80s had the fewest complaints! Health issues and depression were common problems in people with insomnia.

Sleeping patterns are helpful in determining the cause for insomnia. Difficulty getting to sleep and awakening frequently through the night is often related to stress, and awakening early unable to return to sleep is a telltale sign of depression. The most common causes for insomnia are reviewed and include pain, stress, depression, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome and post traumatic stress disorder.