Lack of sexual activity kills men's testosterone levels

Benjumin Hsu said that over two years, men with declining serum concentrations of testosterone were more likely to develop a significant decrease in their sexual activity and sexual desire.

In older men, decreased sexual activity and desire may be a cause, not an effect, of low circulating testosterone level, he further added.

Whether decreasing sexual function is a cause or an effect of reduced androgen status in older men, or whether some other age-related factor may be involved, is not clear.

To explore the relationship between declining reproductive hormones and decreasing sexual function in older men, Hsu and his colleagues assessed men 70 years of age and above in Sydney, Australia, who took part in the Concord Health and Ageing in Men Project (CHAMP).

For every one standard deviation drop in testosterone from baseline to follow-up, the adjusted odds ratio of further decline in sexual activity was 1.23. The decline in testosterone was "strikingly small," the researchers noted, at less than 10 percent. Declines in estrogen were also associated with declines in sexual activity.