The need to urinate is by far the most common cause of sleep disruption in older men, a survey has shown. The research also reveals high demand for natural supplements to address the problem.
 
International wellness company Lycored surveyed 313 men over the age of 50 (163 in the U.K. and 150 in the U.S.). Almost all (96%) said sleep quality was either important or very important to their health.
 
However, more than one in five (22%) described the general quality of their sleep as either bad or very bad. Over a third (34%) said they slept badly every few nights, with 14% sleeping badly every night. Only 3% said they never slept badly. 
 
Needing to urinate was by far the most common cause of sleep disruption. Seven in ten (69%) said it was one of the two things most likely to wake them up at night, ahead of noise (24%), stress (22%), a partner (11%), light (10%) and nightmares (10%). Thirty-one percent of Brits and 43% of Americans had experienced problems with the urgency or frequency of their urination over the past month.
 
Over a quarter (26%) said poor sleep had affected their physical health over the past year. Sixteen percent said it had affected their mental health, 13% their physical appearance,12% their work, and 11% their relationships.
 
Zev Ziegler, head of global brand & marketing (Health) at Lycored, said: “It’s easy to make light of urinary problems in older men but they’re by far the most frequent cause of sleep disruption, which can have serious consequences. Our research shows how common it is for poor sleep to affect both physical and mental health, as well as work and relationships.”
 
Men in the U.S. seem more likely than those in the U.K. to pay the price for lost sleep. Nearly three in ten (29%) of the Americans said poor sleep had affected their physical health, while one in five (20%) said it had affected their mental health.
 
The Americans surveyed were also more likely to report poor prostate health, with over a third (34%) experiencing a problem at some point, compared to 21% of the Brits. Among men who had experienced a prostate problem, 85% said it had increased the need to urinate at night, and two thirds (66%) said it had affected the quality of their sleep.
 
However, there was little appetite for medication to improve sleep, with eighty-two percent of respondents preferring the idea of addressing the root causes of the problem. Two thirds (66%) of respondents said they were either interested or very interested in a natural dietary supplement that could improve the quality of their sleep. Even more (69%) were interested in a natural dietary supplement that could reduce the likelihood of needing to urinate at night.
 
Mr. Ziegler added: “Despite the seriousness of poor sleep, there’s a lot of resistance to pharmaceutical solutions. Whether that’s because of concerns about side effects or dependency, it’s clear that people prefer the idea of tackling the root causes of the problem – and doing it in a natural way. Given that the urge to urinate at night is the commonest cause of sleep disruption, the consumer appeal of natural supplements for prostate health is obvious.”
 
Lycopro―Lycored’s blend of carotenoids, trace minerals, vitamins, cumin and black pepper extract―is specifically formulated to address urinary function in middle-aged men. Regular dietary supplementation has been shown to help prevent prostate enlargement and its symptoms by reducing androgen levels. It can also reduce prostate size in men suffering from Benign Prostate Hyperplasia, a common cause of increased need to urinate.