How sleep deprivation can affect fertility in men and women?

The ideal amount of sleep for a man and women is 7 to 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. That is enough to regularise your body functions. With increasing stress in our lives, many of us have trouble in sleeping at night. There are no hard scientific proofs to suggest that sleep affects fertility directly, in either men or women. But the same part of the brain which controls sleep and other hormones related to it, also controls the functions of ovulation and sperm formation. That is one reason why the sperm and fertility are indirectly related.
Sleep deprivation also known to cause poor sperm production and also interferes with the release of ovum, in case of female. The hormones that are very important in the reproduction have their own diurnal cycles. Sleep deprivation may affects them. For instance, the hormone testosterone is secreted high during the night. If your sleep cycle is altered, obviously these hormones gets interfered with,  which reflects on your fertility in some way.

What's the ideal sleep for men and women?

A men or women should ideally have 7 to 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. That is enough to regularise your body functions. Keep your sleeping time fixed as far as possible.

How to have a good sleep?

• Keep a fixed bedtime
• Have your dinner little early (i.e 7 pm to 8 pm) so that there is enough gap between your dinner time and bed time.
• Most importantly avoid using cell phones or gadgets for atleast an hour prior to sleeping.
• Have a light dinner. If you are too full, falling asleep will be difficult.
• A good bed and pillow are needed for sleeping comfortably.
• Try to reduce stress.

(source: Indian Express)