Looking to get pregnant? There may be a simple but important element you’re overlooking: sleep.
A new Boston University study presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s Scientific Congress Wednesday found that men who get too much or too little sleep could face fertility issues.
Men who clocked less than six hours of sleep or more than nine hours had the most difficulty impregnating their partners. More than nine hours meant a 42 percent lowered chance of conceiving, while less than six meant a 43 percent lowered chance. The study involved 695 couples attempting to conceive for six or fewer menstrual cycles, according to a news release.
While the study wasn’t designed to prove a cause-and-effect relationship between sleep and male fertility problems, nor did it illuminate the precise mechanism that could be at play, “it’s certainly quite possible that men that are getting less than seven hours of sleep have derangements in their hormonal status related to stress, related to perhaps other issues as well, and that could be associated with lower sperm production,” speculates Dr. Pat Schlegel, vice president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, who was not involved in the research. “Men who sleep excessively could have other conditions, like depression or disordered sleep patterns, possibly from other medical conditions, and that could be associated with having a lower chance of fertility.”
Schlegel also mentioned some of the study’s limitations, including not looking at sperm count.
When it comes to sleep, Schlegel says the sweet spot for conception was seven to nine hours. In addition, he recommends practicing good sleep hygiene, i.e. making the bedroom an optimal environment for sleep and avoiding eating or physical activity close to bedtime. He suggests adopting a cool-down period about 20 to 30 minutes before bed, which includes ditching sleep distractors (sorry, smartphones).
Whether improving sleep will definitely improve a man’s fertility is unclear, but arguably any information on this front could be beneficial.
“Outside of some subtle dietary effects and losing weight and avoiding excess external heat, there’s really not a lot that men can do to improve their fertility,” Schlegel says. “If improving their sleep patterns is part of that, that gives us one more thing that we can talk with patients about.”
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Not-So-Sweet Dreams: Poor Sleep Linked to Male Fertility Problems originally appeared on usnews.com
