Low sex drive doesn't occur in isolation most of the time. There might be many other health problems that contribute towards it.
It is a common assumption that with age, a man's sexual drive would also go down. But that needn't be the case always as a decrease in sex drive is affected by overall health than just age. More often than not, people are reluctant to speak about their sexual problems with a doctor. It still remains a taboo. While a low sex drive might be more acceptable in women as they age due to menopause, men are left feeling humiliated when it happens to them.
Low sex drive in a man or woman affects the relationship and needs to be talked about. Here are a few problems that could be affecting men with low sex drive:
1. Testosterone deficiency
While the hormone testosterone isn't the only reason behind a man's sex drive it can surely affect their sexual life. When there isn't enough testosterone it can lead to a lack of desire and erectile dysfunction (ED). ED is when a man can't get or maintain his erection. However, a low sex drive is a very personal thing since not every man has the same sex drive. Many people are able to maintain a sexual life with less testosterone while some men have a low libido even with normal levels of testosterone, according to WebMD.
RLS is the uncontrollable urge to move your leg. According to a study, Prospective Study of Restless Legs Syndrome and Risk of Erectile Dysfunction, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, people with RLS have a higher chance of getting erectile dysfunction (ED). ED occurs in 26%–47% of older American men and is connected to decrements in quality of life. It was found that men who had at least five RLS occurrences in a month were almost 50% more likely to get ED.
When you're sick, you're unlikely to be thinking about sex. Then, there are diseases like cancer that also reduce sperm count. Apart from that, diseases like type 2 diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and chronic lung, heart, kidney, and liver failure also negatively impact a man's libido, according to Healthline. When a man has peripheral vascular disease, which is caused by the narrowing of blood vessels mostly due to the build-up of fatty material inside the arteries, they can experience sexual problems too, Dr. Pamela Rockwell, assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School told Forbes.
When a man is suffering from chronic depression, their libido is likely to be shot down. Sometimes, even anti-depressants lead to reduced sex drive but they shouldn't be stopped regardless. "In depression, the chemical soup often isn’t right," Russell Stambaugh, Ph.D., a sex therapist and a spokesman for the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists, told WebMD. “The brain is important for sexuality because of the chemistry, but it’s also important for ideas. It helps how you experience pleasure and how you define it.”
Whether you sleep less or have disturbed sleep, both have a connection to low testosterone levels. Non-obese men who suffered from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) had lower testosterone levels, which is connected to decreased sex drive, according to a study, Nocturnal Hypoxemia is Associated With Low Testosterone Levels in Overweight Males and Older Men With Normal Weight, published in Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. With decreased sex drive comes decreased sexual activity, which can become a problem when it is persistent.
The best way to tackle this is to set aside your inhibitions and visit your doctor.
References:
https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/177/10/1097/101065
http://jcsm.aasm.org/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=31134
https://www.webmd.com/depression/features/depression-and-sex#1
https://www.webmd.com/men/how-low-testosterone-can-affect-your-sex-drive#1
https://www.healthline.com/health/low-testosterone/conditions-that-cause-low-libido#sleep-problems
