Video Download: Co Sleeping With Baby Drops Men S Testosterone Levels
Video Stream: Co Sleeping With Baby Drops Men S Testosterone Levels
A new study shows that it's not only women's bodies that adapt to parenthood: fathers who sleep next to their tot show dips in their levels of testosterone, which researchers say is good for the baby.
In prior research, study author Gettler (currently of the University of Notre Dame in the US state of Indiana) and his colleagues found that when men become fathers, their testosterone levels drop and the more involved dads were in caring for their children, the more significant their drops in the hormone.
A new study suggests that men's bodies make adjustments to better adapt to child rearing. AFP/Relaxnews
After taking saliva samples before and after sleep, they found those who shared a bed with junior had dips in their testosterone levels in the evening. The researchers also took testosterone samples in 2005 and 2009, and they found that dads who dozed next to their child had a third less testosterone than before, compared to dads who slept separately.
While high testosterone levels have been linked to aggression, extroversion, and risk-taking, lower testosterone levels are good for parenthood. Drops in testosterone have been connected to a fathers responsiveness to their children, wrote the study authors.
The researchers aren't sure that sleeping next to the baby causes the decline in testosterone, and that more work needs to be done. But research also shows that disruptions in a man's sleep -- a baby's cry, for example -- are known to cut testosterone production, said the researchers.
Bed sharing is seen as a controversial practice in some countries due to infant safety, but in the study, even dads sleeping in the same room with their children showed lower testosterone levels than men who slept separately.
Though the study is by no means conclusive (nor are researchers entirely sure their work applies to dads outside of the Philippines), blogger Jezebel writes, it does suggest that our traditional concept of arm-wrestling, water-buffalo-tackling masculinity is in for a thorough evolutionary biology revision.
Reference
- Testosterone Therapy Could Lower Diabetes Risk for Men – The Science is Promising! - February 19th, 2021
- Acidosis: The Hidden Health Destroyer - January 20th, 2021
- Testosterone Linked to Heart Disease -- Testosterone Prescription - November 18th, 2020
- Testosterone Drives Ego, Reduces Cooperation — Testosterone Prescription - November 2nd, 2020
- Hypogonadism and Testosterone - Testosterone Replacement Therapy - June 14th, 2020
- Low-T: Men With Low Testosterone Found More Likely to Die From COVID-19 AKA Coronavirus - June 12th, 2020
- A Disturbing Trend: Testosterone Levels Falling Even Lower in Adolescent Males - May 31st, 2020
- Testosterone, Viagra not a winning combination for erectile dysfunction - Testosterone Prescription - April 30th, 2020
- Testosterone Reduces Group Think, Cooperation, and Less Sheep-Like Mentality - April 25th, 2020
- Five Myths About Low Testosterone And Testosterone Therapy — Testosterone Prescription - April 8th, 2020
- A Great Way to Boost Your Testosterone? Get Married! - April 1st, 2020
- Low Testosterone Levels Cause Health Woes -- Testosterone Prescription - March 11th, 2020
- Question: What Makes Men Sexy to Women? Answer: Low Stress, High Testosterone, Strong Immunity - Testosterone Therapy - February 29th, 2020
- Your Life on Testosterone: Overly Sure, Unwilling to Listen to Anyone - June 13th, 2019
- Men with higher testosterone tend to lie less, study suggests - April 1st, 2019
- Increase in testosterone drug use - Testosterone Prescription - April 1st, 2019
- Environment trumps genes in testosterone levels, study finds - Testosterone Prescription - April 1st, 2019
- The top ten testosterone booster supplements: A review - March 28th, 2019
- Testosterone replacement therapy improves symptoms of metabolic syndrome - Testosterone Prescription - March 26th, 2019
- Testosterone shown to help sexually frustrated women- Testosterone Prescription - March 25th, 2019
- Testosterone therapy — good idea or not? - Testosterone Prescription - March 25th, 2019
- Too much testosterone makes for bad decisions, tests show - Testosterone Prescription - February 27th, 2019
- With testosterone, it's 'my way or the highway': UK study - Testosterone Prescription - February 27th, 2019
Word Count: 344