Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jun:18:83-93.
doi: 10.1016/j.coemr.2021.03.002. Epub 2021 Mar 11.

Sleep and the Testis

Nora A O'Byrne  1 , Fiona Yuen  1 , Warda Niaz  1 , Peter Y Liu  1   2
Affiliations

Sleep and the Testis

Nora A O'Byrne et al. Curr Opin Endocr Metab Res. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

Disordered sleep impairs neurocognitive performance, and is now recognized to cause metabolic ill-health. This review assesses the nascent relationship between insufficient, misaligned, and disrupted sleep with andrological health. High-quality cohort studies show a reduced sperm count in men with sleep disturbances. Well-designed interventional studies show a reduction in testosterone with sleep restriction. Studies of long-term shift workers show no effect of misaligned sleep on mean testosterone concentrations. Men with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and more severe hypoxemia have lower testosterone levels, although it is unknown if this relationship is entirely explained by concomitant obesity, or is reversible. Nevertheless, erectile dysfunction, which is common in men with OSA, is clinically improved when OSA is properly treated. Few studies manipulating sleep have been performed in older men, in whom the accumulation of sleep disturbances over decades of life may contribute to age-related illnesses. Improving sleep could ameliorate the development of these disorders.

Keywords: Androgen; Circadian; Fertility; Sleep; Sleep Disordered Breathing.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose Conflict of Interest N.A.O., F.Y., W.N., AND P.Y.L. have no financial or non-financial disclosures.

References

    1. Liu Y, Wheaton AG, Chapman DP, Cunningham TJ, Lu H, Croft JB. Prevalence of Healthy Sleep Duration among Adults — United States, 2014. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2016;65:137–41. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6506a1. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Okoro CA, Courtney-Long E, Cyrus AC, Zhao G, Wheaton AG. Self-reported short sleep duration among US adults by disability status and functional disability type: Results from the 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Disabil Health J. 2020;13(3):100887. doi: 10.1016/j.dhjo.2020.100887. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job flexibiilities and work schedules. (USDL-19–1691) 2019. p. Retrieved Noember 6, 2020 from https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/flex2.pdf.
    1. Donovan LM, Kapur VK. Prevalence and Characteristics of Central Compared to Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Analyses from the Sleep Heart Health Study Cohort. Sleep. 2016;39(7):1353–9. doi: 10.5665/sleep.5962. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Peppard PE, Young T, Barnet JH, Palta M, Hagen EW, Hla KM. Increased prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing in adults. Am J Epidemiol. 2013;177(9):1006–14. doi: 10.1093/aje/kws342. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources