Sleep problems may be related to erectile dysfunction or urological problems such as incontinence, two new studies suggest. The first study examines the link between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and erectile dysfunction. The study involved 870 men with an average age of 47 and a body mass index of 30.2 kg/m2, which is considered overweight. Using a screening test, the researchers found that 63% of the men had OSA and 5.6% had a family history of diabetes. Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition during sleep in which the upper airway narrows and causes breathing to stop. After taking into account factors such as health and age, the researchers found that men with erectile dysfunction were at a much higher risk of developing OSA than men without such problems. The more severe the impotence, the more likely the condition OSA is to develop, the researchers found. The purpose of this data is to get men suffering from erectile dysfunction to also be screened for obstructive sleep apnea, which will help to diagnose the condition earlier. The second study found that sleep problems are related to various urological problems, such as inability to retain urine, inflammation of the lower urinary tract, incontinence and nocturia. The study involved 1,610 men and 2,535 who were monitored by experts for five years for the onset of urological and sleep problems. At the end of the study, the researchers found that short sleep duration in men and restless sleep in women were mainly due to urinary tract problems (8% of men and 13% of women). Nocturia is a cause of restless sleep only in women, the researchers added. Nocturia is a disturbance in the rhythm of urine excretion during the day. The data from the two studies will help to more correctly solve sleep problems and improve a person’s health and quality of life, the researchers say.
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