Introduction:
Sexual desire, also called libido, varies from person to person. It may temporarily decline due to various medical and psychological conditions, anxiety, stress, depression, fatigue, and hypogonadism. Generally, men's libido decreases gradually with age. To know more about the physical changes responsible for reducing sexual desire, read this article.
What Are the Symptoms of Reduced Sexual Desire in Men?
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Decreased frequency of sexual thoughts and fantasies.
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Low interest in sexual intercourse.
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Lower frequency of sexual activity, including masturbation.
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Lesser sexual stimulation by sight words or touch.
What Is the Importance of Sexual Desire in Mens Life?
Just like hunger and sleep desire, it is an instinct that is necessary for a person's healthy sexual life, and it is a necessary desire to preserve the species. Hence, it is an important aspect of quality of life in general. Reduced sexual desire may interfere couple's sexual life. In addition, recent studies show a close relationship between libido and cardiovascular diseases, demonstrating that maintaining a healthy libido could benefit overall cardiovascular health among men.
What Are the Physical Changes That Contribute to Reduced Sexual Desire in Men?
The most common causes of reduced sexual desire in men include endocrine diseases, psychosomatic stress, drug usage, cranial nerve diseases, old age, obesity, and testosterone levels.
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In Younger Men: A most common cause of decreased sexual desire in younger men is psychosomatic stress. Psychological factors such as anxiety and depression can inhibit sexual desire, and this declined sexual desire can cause harm to many psychological and social aspects of the affected man.
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Middle-Aged and Older Adults: They often have many comorbidities, such as lifestyle-related diseases, testosterone decline, urinary disorders, and depression. Reduced sexual desire in middle-aged and elderly is difficult to manage. Many clinicians may fail to improve it, so identifying the factors affecting this decrease in sex drive is important for good clinical management.
What Lifestyle Risk Factors Contribute to Reduced Sexual Desire in Men?
1) Smoking: Studies have demonstrated that current smokers have more prominent sexual desire problems than nonsmokers. The accumulation of hazardous chemicals in the body due to cigarette smoking directly damages cells and gonadal tissues. Moreover, smoking causes dysregulation of some brain function pathways (hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis), which imbalances sex hormones, causing a drop in libido.
2) Alcohol: As established by various studies, alcohol-dependent men have reduced sexual functions, including sexual desire.
3) Obesity: Obese men's sexual function can get hampered via metabolic, hormonal, and psychological parameters. An increase in the weight of a body may lead to an increase in sex hormone binding globulin that causes the calculated free level of the sex hormone testosterone to drop. Due to this falling of free testosterone in the blood, sexual desire may decrease drastically. In addition, some psychological factors, such as body image issues, depression related to obesity, and antidepressant medications if treatment of depression is ongoing, may bring about a change in sexual desire negatively.
4) Intensive Exercise Training: Studies support that performing frequent exercises and training, such as completing a marathon, is associated with decreased sexual desire in men. However, strength and the proportion of high-intensity training were the most vital determinants of reduced libido. In addition, greater exposure time and chronic persistence training, which is highly intense, tend to lower libido.
What Are the Age-Related Physical Changes in Men that Contribute to Reducing Sexual Desire?
Age significantly affects men's libido through physical and mental changes. Followings are the physical changes related to declined sexual desire.
1) Hormonal Imbalances: Testosterone is a very important sex hormone, which plays an important role in maintaining libido. The testosterone level generally decreases by approximately 1 % yearly with aging, resulting in reduced sex drive in men.
2) Nocturia: Frequent nocturnal voiding is waking up one or more times for urination at night. It generally becomes more frequent with age and is one of the common clinical symptoms of aging. Nocturia leads to sleep fragmentation and disturbances and is significantly associated with anxiety, depression, and decreased daily activities. In addition, nocturia lowers testosterone levels as testosterone production is closely associated with sleep quantity and quality. Testosterone levels have been reported to decrease by 142 ng/mL for every count of nighttime urination awakening. These symptoms all together can contribute to decreased sexual desire in men.
3) Chronic and Acute Illness: Physical illnesses in old age can affect sexuality in terms of interest. The risk of chronic and acute illness increases as it ages. Some examples of such illnesses include diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and cancer.
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Arthritis can make sexual activity to be uncomfortable or even painful.
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Conditions such as stroke and heart disease may interfere with sexual activity.
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Diabetes affects blood flow and can cause neural damage, which may lead to erection dysfunction.
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Cancer and its treatment can influence sexual functions. For example, radiation therapy can impact the hormone-producing organs, affecting the number of sex hormones available.
Physical changes across the lifespan greatly influence what is considered normal and healthy sexual activity. Sexual dysfunction, in turn, conditions a response of reduction in sexual activity, vastly downsizing Sexual desire.
How to Manage Reduced Sexual Desire Due to Physical Changes in Men?
Many young adults can face low sexual desire that improves over time after resolving stress factors; however, in some men, lower libido may persist, mandating a thorough physical evaluation. Therefore, it is important to consult specialists in case of reduced sexual desire issues.
The healthcare provider will get a good history of the onset date, situational or medical factors around that time, whether treatment is previously taken, and other elements of history.
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Treatment of Underlying Sexual Condition: It is very important to decide if some other sexual problems are present in some cases because reduced sexual desire can result from another sexual problem such as erectile dysfunction (difficulty in getting or keeping an erection), premature ejaculation, and lack of control over the timing of ejaculation. This reduction in sexual desire may be a conditioned response to adapt to avoiding a sexual situation in which the man may feel that he might fail.
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Treatment of Underlying Illness: Curing and management of underlying medical conditions that may hamper sexual function is essential in the improvement of libido.
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Hormonal Therapy: Testosterone replacement therapy can help with low testosterone levels, but the role and outcome are questionable.
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Weight Loss and Bariatric Surgery: In the case of obese men, studies have proven improvement in sexual desire after bariatric surgery or significant weight reduction.
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Smoking Cessation: Studies have proven smoking cessation can improve reduced libido in men.
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Counseling: In case of high stress, anxiety, or depression-related libido loss, counseling from a therapist can help in resolving the issue.
Conclusion
It is important to manage reduced sexual desire as it is essential for sexual wellness and a satisfying sexual life. Sexuality is an essential element of the overall quality of life for most people; the absence of sexual desire can lead to personal distress and cause strains in the relationship with the spouse. In such cases, evaluation by a physician is indicated. Thus, using an individualized approach can greatly aid affected men in continuing to have a healthy and satisfactory sexual life as per their personal preferences.