Men with breathing problems during
sleep may commonly suffer from erectile dysfunction
(ED) as well, a small study suggests. Researchers found
that of 30 men with the breathing disorder sleep apnea,
24 (80 percent) also had symptoms of ED.
People with sleep apnea have numerous stops and starts
in breathing during the night, with chronic, loud snoring
being a hallmark of the condition. The most common form
of the disorder is obstructive sleep apnea, in which the
soft tissues at the back of the throat temporarily collapse
during sleep, blocking the airways.
Over time, oxygen deprivation during the night can harm
the cardiovascular system, raising the odds of high blood
pressure, stroke and heart disease.
But researchers have also speculated that sleep apnea
could contribute to ED, according to the authors of the
new study, led by Dr. John P. Mulhall of the Weill Medical
College of Cornell University in New York, and published
in the journal Urology.
For one, it's thought that the erections men naturally
have during deep REM sleep help preserve normal erectile
function. Men with sleep apnea, however, have continuous
sleep interruptions and spend less time in the REM stages.
To study the relationship between sleep apnea and ED,
Mulhall and his colleagues assessed 50 men who came to
a sleep clinic with possible symptoms of sleep apnea --
which, besides chronic loud snoring may include daytime
sleepiness and concentration problems.
Thirty of these men were diagnosed with sleep apnea,
24 of whom were also diagnosed with ED based on a standard
questionnaire. And the worse the sleep apnea, the more
severe the ED tended to be.
In contrast, only four of the 20 men without sleep apnea
were diagnosed with ED.
"Our data suggest that men with sleep apnea syndrome
have a significant chance of having ED and that a correlation
exists between the severity of sleep apnea and ED," Mulhall
and his colleagues conclude.
It's not clear why the two conditions are linked, according
to the researchers. Body mass index, which was not assessed
in the study, could be one factor, as obesity is the single
largest risk factor for sleep apnea, and overweight men
also have a greater risk of ED.
Sleep apnea can also lower testosterone levels in the
blood, the researchers note, which could contribute to
erectile problems.
SOURCE: Urology, May 2006.
