Sleep apnea and sex

Studies have shown that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) increases risk of erectile dysfunction (ED), and treating OSA with CPAP can improve ED. And some of my patients with untreated OSA are just too tired to engage in sex. Finally, some of my patients are hesitant to start CPAP therapy because they worry it will interfere with their sex life. This is usually in my younger patients and some of it is a misunderstanding about when CPAP is worn. Some think it's supposed to be worn whenever they are in their bed, as opposed to just sleeping.

This article discusses research presented at a recent meeting. Researchers asked participants about their sexual quality of life. The participants all has OSA and were prescribed CPAP therapy. The researchers divided the participants into two groups - those that used the CPAP regularly and those that did not. Results showed no difference in sexual quality of life between the two groups. The conclusion was that CPAP did not interfere with the participants sexual satisfaction.

Men's Thoughts, Sex, Sleep, and Food

There was a study done to see if the urban legend that men think about sex once every seven seconds is true. Psychologists asked 163 college women and 120 college men to carry around small tally counters, and asked them to record each time they thought about food, sleep, or sex. On average , the men had sexual thoughts slightly more than once each waking hour and women about half that. But the men had thoughts about food and sleep about as often as sexual thoughts.

The psychologists theorized that men could be more aware then women of their own physical state at any given time, or that men are more comfortable recording such thoughts than women. In the women who reported they care more about what others thought about them, were less likely to report food or sexual thoughts - perhaps because of the social stigma of food and sex with females. Women were equally as likely to report sleep-related thoughts, perhaps because there is no stigma with sleeping.