What if the regularity of sexual intercourse really influenced health? Researchers have encountered the medical and behavioral data of thousands of people with mortality registers. They conclude that having less than one sexual intercourse per week significantly increases the risk of death in women. An inverse trend was even observed in men, raising new questions about the impact of body and mind in sexuality.
A study to correlate sexuality and life expectancy
It is a statistic that challenges: women with less than one sex per week would have an increased risk of 70 % to die within five years. This conclusion comes from a study by researchers at Walden University, Pennsylvania, from databases from American centers for the control and prevention of diseases (CDC). The analysis relates to 14,542 men and women, whose health, lifestyle and sexual frequency information has been crossed with mortality data. The results show a clear correlation in women, but much more nuanced in men.
Figures that confirm a protective effect in women
The study reveals that women aged 20 to 59 with reports less than once a week had an increased risk of 70 % to die within five years. Furthermore, the risk climbed 197 % in those combined with low sexual activity and depression, compared to only depressed women. Biological analyzes confirm these differences: the participants that are not sexually active have higher levels of a protein linked to inflammation, capable of damaging cells, tissues and organs. Conversely, those with a more regular sex life showed better health markers. Dr. Srikanta Banerjee, principal researcher of the study, underlines the importance of the psychological factor: “Depressive individuals but having a high sexual frequency do not feel the harmful effects of depression as much“.
Opposed results in men
If the correlation is clear in women, it diverges in men. Researchers did not find a direct link between low sexual frequency and male mortality. On the contrary, a particularly high sexual activity seemed to be accompanied by an increased risk of death. The authors advance the hypothesis of a chronic elevation of adrenaline and cortisol, promoting an increase in blood pressure and cardiovascular complications. For Banerjee and his team, the conclusion remains clear: “Sexual expression, measured quantitatively by sexual frequency, is an essential component of physical and mental health“.