The Dangers of Night-Day Reversal and the Mental Stress Indicator of Morning Erection

57. Is it not okay to have a reversed day-night cycle?

It is well known that people who work night shifts have a higher risk of heart disease, fractures, diabetes, and a greater tendency to experience a decline in metabolic function. However, recent research results show that the reversed day-night cycle itself is also a major contributing factor.

This research comes from the National Academy of Sciences in the United States. They conducted an experiment, intentionally disrupting the sleep rhythm of participants by slightly altering their sleep times. The results showed a disruption of the circadian rhythm (wake-up time), abnormal biological clock, and hormonal imbalances. They concluded that, in the long run, this could be a contributing factor to various diseases.

For example, if your body doesn't sleep when it should, it can't produce a substance called leptin. Leptin is responsible for suppressing appetite. Recently, it has become evidence that people who don't sleep well tend to gain weight. Cortisol, a stress hormone, is also produced in higher quantities than usual. It's said that elevated cortisol levels cause anxiety, unconscious food intake, and increased blood pressure. Furthermore, experiments have confirmed that blood sugar and insulin levels, closely related to diabetes, also increase, leading to higher blood pressure.

Attention IT professionals and bloggers with a tendency to work night shifts!

However, there are indeed people like Mr. Makizo Nakagawa, the former president of the Japan-Italy Association and an opera singer, who lived a life of continuous day-night reversal from his youth and still performed energetically on stage at the age of 104. Mr. Nakagawa, even after turning 100, insisted on going to bed after 3 a.m. and waking up in the afternoon every day... If this continued for decades, wouldn't his biological clock change? By the way, I heard that Mr. Nakagawa loved to eat meat and often said, "Eat what you like to eat, do what you like to do."

He dedicated his life to spreading Italian music... Ultimately, perhaps a life without pressure is truly the best thing ever!

Morning erections are a barometer of mental stress.

In the AAAC (Asakura Happy Years Club) that I host, information about anti-aging is sent out via email 1-2 times a month. Once, I wrote about erections during sleep, which elicited a strong response from male members, making me realize that even among men, not many people know this.

Regarding sleep, as mentioned earlier, non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep alternate. The brain also secretes growth hormone during NREM sleep.

Conversely, during REM sleep, the parasympathetic nervous system is excited, preventing the body from completely ceasing functioning and allowing internal organs to become active. This can manifest as dreaming, eye movements, or involuntary turning over, and in men, an erection. This is not particularly sexual arousal, but rather a physiological response to the brain's biological processes.

During REM sleep, men experience erections. The total duration of penile erection is quite long (a natural physiological phenomenon for men), and because it occurs during sleep, most men are unaware of it.

The total time spent experiencing recurring nocturnal erections during sleep is 40%–50% for men over 20 years old, and averages 20% for men over 60. If a nocturnal erection occurs during the last REM sleep period, and this happens to coincide with waking up, the person may feel a "morning erection."

Mr. Etsuaki Kumamoto, the chairman of the Japanese Society for Men's Health Medicine and professor emeritus at Sapporo Medical University, who is known as the father of Japanese men's medicine, defined this phenomenon as "male nighttime empty swings" and made the following description.

"To illustrate the concept of nighttime erections, let's use an analogy. A baseball player doesn't only swing the bat when he's in the batter's box; it's the same analogy as constantly practicing a 'swing' motion. Isn't it natural for baseball players and men in general to constantly practice this 'swing' motion, always ready? Morning erections and nighttime erections are closely related to the support and maintenance of a psychological image of masculinity. Although one may not be acutely aware of it, it has become the root of male biological and sexual consciousness. This is male physiology."

This phenomenon is caused by the connection between the hypothalamus and the parasympathetic nervous system in the brain, and it is very sensitive to mental and psychological stress. That is, once excessive mental stress occurs, it is difficult to experience erections during sleep at night or in the morning.

Nighttime erections or morning erections are the most sensitive indicators of how much stress your body can currently withstand.

To Men – Postscript

In 1989, before the bubble economy, author Shiono Nanami compiled her essays serialized in a corporate magazine and published a book called "To Men." The subtitle was "How to Transform an Ordinary Man into an Extraordinary One: Chapter 54."

Twenty years later, the men are still busy with work every day, but the surrounding environment has changed drastically. The nation has passed its growth stage and entered maturity; it's no longer an era where simply working increases income and allows for self-realization. Moreover, a global economic crisis has occurred simultaneously. The mental stress has reached its peak, severely eroding the men's physical and mental well-being...

This book is a rather presumptuous attempt to visualize Asakura Takumi's version of "To Men," and I wrote this book. The subtitle is "Chapter 58: Restoring Confidence to Weary Men."

Ms. Shiono's book, "To Men," is filled with anecdotes about charming, humorous, and wise Italian men-qualities that Japanese men, though earnest, often lack humor and appreciation for beauty, should learn from. In short, it's a forward-thinking recommendation for stylish middle-aged men.

Instead of Ms. Shiono's wise anecdotes, this book adds scientific data, providing men with information on maintaining good health. While it might seem presumptuous to say I'm on par with Ms. Shiono, my initial intention to make Japanese men more vibrant remains unchanged.

Finally, instead of the 10 tactics recommended by Ms. Shiono in Chapter 43, "For Men to Grow Old Successfully," this time it is called "Asakura Takumi Version: For Men to Grow Old Successfully," and introduces 10 key points.

Key Point 1: Understanding your true self begins at age 40.

A 2007 survey conducted by Nielsen, an international market research company, in 47 countries around the world showed that most people answered that they would start at age 40. The reason for this was not due to the influence of their parents or educational environment, but because at this age they could create their own lives based on their own abilities.

Key Point 2: Remember that being over 60 is still considered middle age.

About 45 years ago, the United Nations defined 65 years and older as advanced age. At that time, the average life expectancy in Japan was 63.6 years for men and 67.7 years for women, and the proportion of people over 65 years old was only 6.3% of the total population. Just five years later, the proportion of people over 65 years old reached 25% of the total population, meaning one in four people were over 65. The Nielsen survey conducted in 47 countries, mentioned earlier, also clearly shows that most people in the world consider "over 60 years old to be in the prime of life." Now, people's ages look 70-80% younger than their actual ages 20 years ago. We can still try all sorts of things.

Point 3: Age has two aspects: chronological age and cellular age, the latter of which can be self-regulated to some extent. Try making the corresponding efforts.

It's important to keep your age in mind. Everyone gets old. Trying to look unnaturally young is actually quite unattractive. The concept of anti-aging emerged in 1990 after Ms. Shiono wrote her book. As introduced in the first chapter, developmental genetics emerged. Scientific research on topics such as male hormone replacement therapy, and individualized approaches, play a very important role.

Point 4: Beauty & Cleanliness

Japanese men have also become quite conscious of their appearance, paying attention to taste and clothing. However, sadly, everyone becomes less attractive with age. Including the scent mentioned in this article, the older one gets, the more important it is to pay attention to one's appearance. In this sense, one could say that dressing up is an adult's prerogative.

When dressing out of style like you did when you were young, please pay close attention. You might be trying to look sophisticated, but end up giving off an unclean impression.

Male hormones are also known as "beauty hormones," meaning that people with high levels of male hormones tend to like dressing up.

Point 5: Romance

In the rest of your life, please have a real, adult-like romance. (As an aside, I'm also over fifty and currently in a relationship!)

Point 6: Amiable

Being able to properly manage one's own feelings and treat the other person is something only adults can do, and it's a true mark of a "superior man" who is worthy of being cherished.

Point 7: Accept your weaknesses.

Men were once taught that it was "shameful" to have their "weaknesses" exposed to others. A chapter in an American book on male menopause discusses "shame" and the importance of self-liberation. While women are more than twice as likely as men to suffer from depression, more men commit suicide due to it, a consequence of the educational ideology that "men must be strong."

Even if they feel physically or mentally unwell, perhaps because they are unwilling to face the illness or accept their own weakness, it seems that many men are unwilling to go to the hospital no matter what.

Key Point 8: Remembering sexual behavior is an important form of communication between adults.

A professor of gynecology at Tokyo Medical and Dental University stated, "More than half of the patients receiving treatment at women's menopause clinics come to consult about topics such as lack of sexual satisfaction or distress related to sexual behavior that doesn't provide emotional and physical liberation." In the annual global survey on sexual awareness conducted by the British condom manufacturer Durex, Japan consistently ranks near the bottom. In 2007, satisfaction rates were 15%, tied for last place with China (the world average was 44%). Communication between adults who slowly savor the "feelings" is indeed important. There are still many situations where women find it difficult to talk about sex. For adult men, this is an invaluable opportunity to test their true communication skills.

Point 9: Understanding the possibility that men remain in their prime until death.

As discussed in this article, male sexual ability is not determined by age but by individual differences. With the right knowledge and proper care, living to 90 is indeed possible. Maintaining sexual prowess is crucial!

Final point: Please do not read articles about men written by women who pretend to be smart!