Sleep and fertility. Have you ever thought about how they relate to one another?

Sleep and fertility. Have you ever thought about how they relate to one another?

Sleep plays a vital role in all our lives, affecting the quality of life, overall health, and, importantly, fertility. Getting a good night’s sleep helps refresh and restore your brain and organ systems and regulate important hormones in your body – including fertility-related hormones as explained by Dr Rama Sofat.

Lack of Sleep Can Affect Fertility-Related Hormones

In both men and women, the same part of the brain that regulates sleep-wake hormones (such as melatonin and cortisol) also triggers a daily release of reproductive hormones.

The hormones that trigger ovulation in women and the sperm-maturation process in men may be tied into the body's sleep-wake patterns. For example, if you’re a woman, long-term lack of sleep may directly affect the release of luteinizing hormone, or LH — the hormone that triggers ovulation as part of regulating your menstrual cycle. The resulting menstrual irregularity may mean it takes longer for you to conceive.

What Else Connects Sleep and Fertility?

Long-term lack of sleep can disrupt more than your hormonal balance. Research suggests that it can also affect your fertility in indirect ways, including:

1.) Making you moody and irritable. Over time, this could disrupt your relationship with your spouse or sexual partner and lead to fewer opportunities for pregnancy to occur as explained by Dr Rama Sofat.

2.) Increasing your risk of diseases and conditions that can affect your fertility. These include diabetes, cardiovascular (heart and blood vessels) disease and obesity.

3.) You’re probably familiar with at least some ways to get more and better sleep. If so, try them! And remember, if your sleep and fertility problems continue, it may be time to talk to your doctor to find out if an underlying medical condition may be a factor.

4.) Because sleep and daylight are integral to our biological clocks, it's important to get sufficient amounts of both. Here are some guidelines.

5.) Honor your personal sleep needs. Although the optimal amount of sleep is about 8 hours on average, requirements vary from person to person and somewhat from season to season. 

6.) Get outdoors. Shoot for an hour or more out in sunlight each day, even if you have to split it up with a 10-minute walk in the morning.