BETTER MOOD
The evidence suggests that the ‘feelgood’ effect of making love could be more about chemicals than sexual ability.
During lovemaking and orgasm, a cocktail
of endorphins (the body’s natural mood-lifting opiates),
neurotransmitters and hormones are released.
Oxytocin, in particular, is a hormone
released during and after sex that has been shown to make people more
generous towards their partners and can also help induce calm and sleep.
Oxytocin is called the ‘cuddling’ hormone
because it’s released after just 20 minutes of hugging. Women produce
four times as much as men, for whom production is inhibited by the
prevalence of the hormone testosterone, which drives libido. In fact,
the Top Sante research found our favourite simple pleasure was a hug –
that’s oxytocin at work.
Another key neurotransmitter is serotonin,
the body’s key antidepressant chemical and one of the major reasons
people smile and feel happy and relaxed after sex.
Sexually active women in long-term
relationships were less likely to be depressed than women who went
without sex, according to a study of nearly 300 women by American
psychologist Gordon Gallup and published in the Archives Of Sexual
Behaviour.
Gallup speculated that semen contains
several hormones which may have a mood-boosting effect when they are
absorbed through the vaginal wall into the bloodstream.
HEART HEALTH
A study at Queens University in Belfast
found that having sex three times a week could actually halve the risk
of heart attack or stroke.
Indeed, the idea that men are more at risk of a heart attack during love-making is mostly misconception, say experts.
Professor Peter Weisberg, medical director
of the British Heart Foundation, says there is no evidence that men who
have sex regularly in their 40s, 50s and beyond are at an increased
risk of heart attack.
‘As far as the heart is concerned, sex is
just another form of exercise,’ says Dr Graham Jackson, consultant
cardiologist at Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital and president of the
Sexual Dysfunction Association.
‘In fitness terms, its equivalent is going for a mile-long walk or climbing up and down two flights of stairs.
‘If you’re physically fit enough for that, there should be no increased risk during sex.’
INCREASED IMMUNITY
Having more sex might increase immunity
from colds and flu. Getting down to it once or twice a week has been
linked with higher levels of immunoglobulin A, or IgA, a substance found
in saliva and the nasal lining thought to help our immune systems fight
colds and flu.
In one study, scientists asked 11
volunteers how often they had had sex over the previous month, then
measured levels of IgA in their saliva.
Those who had sex once a week or less had a
slight increase, compared with those who abstained; but those who made
love more often had 30 per cent higher levels.
LONGER LIFE
One of the largest studies on longevity
and sex – conducted on Welsh men – found that those who had sex less
than once a month had double the risk of dying prematurely than those
who had sex twice a week.
Sexual activity seems to have a protective
effect on men’s health,’ says Dr Brewer. ‘This may be linked with the
effects of the master sex hormone, DHEA or dehydroepiandroterone, which
is made in the adrenal glands and functions as a building block of other
hormones such as oestrogen, testosterone and progesterone.
‘DHEA levels rise just before orgasm and
ejaculation to three times higher than normal, and some claim this is
how regular sex can prolong your life.’
FERTILITY
For people trying to conceive, one of the
biggest myths associated with fertility is that refraining from
ejaculation boosts sperm motility, that’s the rate at which individual
sperm can move forwards to penetrate an egg for fertilisation, says
gynecologist Dr Gillian Lockwood, medical director of Midlands Fertility
Services.
‘When sperm is hanging around in the
epididymis, the long coiled tube in the back of the testes where sperm
is stored, it dies off rapidly,’ she says.
‘Unless a man has a low sperm count, the more often he has sex, then the better the quality of his sperm,’ she says.
Preliminary results of a small study by
Australian researchers found that in men whose sperm showed significant
DNA damage, daily ejaculation reduced this damage by 12 per cent.
‘When it comes to sex for fertility,
having sex little and often – at least every other night – is far better
than lots of it on infrequent occasions,’ says Dr Lockwood.
This article was originally published on Healthista.com
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