There are practically a million reasons why you want to sleep well. You will have a sharper brain for a start. You will also have a healthier heart, better blood sugar levels and a lower chance of obesity and early death. (Oh, and your immune system will start firing every cylinder every day as it should.)
But if you’re an older woman who doesn’t get tired quality are you sleeping, a new study just published says there’s another reason you might want to stop early in the evening and follow much better sleep habits: you probably have much worse sex, assuming you don’t.
According to the study, published in Menopause, The Official Journal of the North American Menopausal Society (NAMS), women who get poor quality sleep can experience what researchers describe as a form of female sexual dysfunction.
Related to this: Never do this if you want a good night’s sleep, say health experts
The study looked at sleep quality, sleep duration and “sexual function” of more than 3,400 women with a mean age of 53 years. Finally, the researchers concluded that poor sleep quality – and not necessarily the duration of night’s sleep – was linked to a higher risk of female sexual dysfunction. “Good sleep quality, on the other hand, was linked to sexual activity,” the study’s official statement said.
“If you put a sleeping pad and a sex pad in front of a tired woman, she will choose sleep every time,” said Stephanie Faubion, MD, NAMS medical director, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Women’s Health Center and lead author of the study. CNN noted the study’s findings.
Faubion says that the “female sexual dysfunction” observed in the study is largely defined as low sexual desire, which is specifically associated with feelings of suffering. “You can’t call it sexual dysfunction unless a woman is upset about it,” she told CNN. “For example, a woman may have low sexual desire, but it may not bother her. So we are the first study I know of that actually looked at not only sexual function, but also the suffering associated with it. “
The study also found that women who slept less than five hours a night were more likely to experience “sexual problems.”
If you want to sleep better, we recommend you try some of these handy tips, all offered by The Mayo Clinic. And, for several reasons, you should get more sleep every day, check out these dangerous side effects of insomnia, according to experts.
“Ban devices in the bedroom and create a dark space using opaque shades or an eye mask,” notes the Mayo Clinic. “Noise can also interfere with your ability to sleep. Try using a fan or noise device to block unwanted noise.”
“Like children, adults sleep better when they have a bedtime routine. Doing the same thing before bed every night can help you prepare your body for rest and condition your brain for sleep.”
“If your busy mind keeps you up at night, try practicing stress management techniques before bed.”
“If you are lying in bed stressing about your inability to sleep, get out of bed and do something that will promote relaxation. This could be reading an uninteresting book, practicing a relaxation technique, or focusing on breathing. When you start to feel sleepy, go back to bed. “For more on the importance of not trying also hard when it comes to sleep, read on The best trick to get back to sleep after waking up in the middle of the night.