Burning the candle at both ends with late nights and early mornings, along with the busy pulse of our modern, 24/7 world often keeps us from getting the rest we need.
A new study finds that not enough sleep may have another, unintended consequence - lower testosterone levels in men.
Just a week of not getting enough sleep brought a drop in hormone levels of 15% in a sample of young, healthy men.
For the study, the researchers looked at testosterone levels in ten healthy male (average age 24) recruits from the University of Chicago campus.
The potential subjects passed a battery of tests to screen for endocrine or psychiatric problems or sleep disorders.
After a week or normal sleep (eight hours at home), the subjects got three nights of ten hour sleep, followed by eight nights of five hours sleep, which was monitored in a sleep lab.
During the sleep sessions their blood was sampled every 15-30 minutes on the last day of each stage of the experiment.
Testosterone levels went down by 10 to 15% after the week of lost sleep compared to the rested states.
This drop in hormone was also linked to a lack of energy and a change in mood according to the subjects.
Lower testosterone levels cannot only affect sexual behavior; it can also have a negative impact on the overall health of a man's body.
He might experience low energy, fatigue and poor concentration in addition to no (or low) sex drive.
This hormone is also important in building muscle mass/strength as well as bone density.
The levels naturally go down as a man gets older - at age 40 plus, by around 1% to 2% each year.
Experts believe that about 15% of American adults limp by on five hours of sleep (or less) each night.
That means these poor souls struggle through their days exhausted, being less productive, less sharp and energetic, more prone to outbursts of temper or frustration.
This work suggests that prolonged sleep loss can have a negative impact on important hormones, as well as overall well-being.
So what to do? We've talked before about how important sleep is to your overall well-being.
But adults vary a lot in how much sleep they need to feel rested, and your sleep needs change over a lifetime.
The NIH (National Institute of Health) suggests from 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night is enough for most healthy adults.
To find the right amount of sleep for you, plan ahead and let yourself to sleep in, waking naturally.
Use this number of hours as a guide to what you need to get most nights.
Once you know your sleep needs, here are some tips to help you get it.
1) Keep your bedtime the same, even on weekends, vacations and holidays and get up at the same time of day, every day.
2) Nap if you've missed out on sleep rather than sleeping in.
A daytime nap is less likely to disturb your sleep wake cycle.
Take your nap in early on in the afternoon, and keep it to 30 minutes, no longer.
3) Fight early evening drowsiness with something mildly stimulating, doing dishes, phoning a friend, making lunches, setting out things you'll need for the morning.
4) Make your bedroom quiet, dark, cool and comfortable - a sleep haven and do nothing else in bed but sleep.
5) Follow a routine to wind down...
shut off the TV, power down the handheld devices and do something relaxing like take a bath, listen to soothing music or do some easy stretches.
By stopping the vicious cycle of not enough sleep and getting the rest your body needs, even the young and healthy can benefit and are more likely to stay healthy, sharp and ready for anything.
A new study finds that not enough sleep may have another, unintended consequence - lower testosterone levels in men.
Just a week of not getting enough sleep brought a drop in hormone levels of 15% in a sample of young, healthy men.
For the study, the researchers looked at testosterone levels in ten healthy male (average age 24) recruits from the University of Chicago campus.
The potential subjects passed a battery of tests to screen for endocrine or psychiatric problems or sleep disorders.
After a week or normal sleep (eight hours at home), the subjects got three nights of ten hour sleep, followed by eight nights of five hours sleep, which was monitored in a sleep lab.
During the sleep sessions their blood was sampled every 15-30 minutes on the last day of each stage of the experiment.
Testosterone levels went down by 10 to 15% after the week of lost sleep compared to the rested states.
This drop in hormone was also linked to a lack of energy and a change in mood according to the subjects.
Lower testosterone levels cannot only affect sexual behavior; it can also have a negative impact on the overall health of a man's body.
He might experience low energy, fatigue and poor concentration in addition to no (or low) sex drive.
This hormone is also important in building muscle mass/strength as well as bone density.
The levels naturally go down as a man gets older - at age 40 plus, by around 1% to 2% each year.
Experts believe that about 15% of American adults limp by on five hours of sleep (or less) each night.
That means these poor souls struggle through their days exhausted, being less productive, less sharp and energetic, more prone to outbursts of temper or frustration.
This work suggests that prolonged sleep loss can have a negative impact on important hormones, as well as overall well-being.
So what to do? We've talked before about how important sleep is to your overall well-being.
But adults vary a lot in how much sleep they need to feel rested, and your sleep needs change over a lifetime.
The NIH (National Institute of Health) suggests from 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night is enough for most healthy adults.
To find the right amount of sleep for you, plan ahead and let yourself to sleep in, waking naturally.
Use this number of hours as a guide to what you need to get most nights.
Once you know your sleep needs, here are some tips to help you get it.
1) Keep your bedtime the same, even on weekends, vacations and holidays and get up at the same time of day, every day.
2) Nap if you've missed out on sleep rather than sleeping in.
A daytime nap is less likely to disturb your sleep wake cycle.
Take your nap in early on in the afternoon, and keep it to 30 minutes, no longer.
3) Fight early evening drowsiness with something mildly stimulating, doing dishes, phoning a friend, making lunches, setting out things you'll need for the morning.
4) Make your bedroom quiet, dark, cool and comfortable - a sleep haven and do nothing else in bed but sleep.
5) Follow a routine to wind down...
shut off the TV, power down the handheld devices and do something relaxing like take a bath, listen to soothing music or do some easy stretches.
By stopping the vicious cycle of not enough sleep and getting the rest your body needs, even the young and healthy can benefit and are more likely to stay healthy, sharp and ready for anything.