British study links frequent sex to male longevity

(March 6, 1998 00:54 a.m. EST http://www.nando.net) - Men who engaged in sex
fairly frequently tended to live longer than men who didn't, British
researchers found when they analyzed the sex lives of 918 middle-aged men.

Their key finding: Men who had sex at least twice a week were twice as likely
to be alive 10 years later as men who engaged in sex less than once a month.

The apparently beneficial effect of sexual activity even showed up in the
analysis of men with coronary disease, despite the fact that heart attacks can
be triggered by sexual activity, the researchers said.

The researchers, whose findings appeared in the Christmas 1997 issue of the
British Medical Journal, said that they took into account the overall health
of the study subjects in their analysis.

They adjusted their findings, for example, for heart disease and smoking, both
of which could independently have made the men likelier to die prematurely.

If other studies confirm their findings, public-health advocates ought to
consider recommending increased sexual activity along with other lifestyle
changes such as improved diet and more exercise that are not considered so
"potentially pleasurable," the researchers said.

What about women?

The evidence is scant, but the researchers cite other, older studies showing
that in contrast to men, for women quality was more beneficial than frequency.

In one of those studies, researchers from Duke University followed 270 men and
women ages 60 to 94 for up to 25 years.

The researchers found that women who said they had enjoyed intercourse in the
past lived 4.28 years longer, on average, than women who had never enjoyed
intercourse.

The men in the most recent study were followed for 10 years. They lived in the
British town of Caerphilly, South Wales, and five adjacent villages. They were
ages 45 to 59 when examined between 1979 and 1983.

They were asked how often they had sexual intercourse and then were divided
into three categories: low activity, meaning less than once a month (199 of
the men); high activity, at least twice a week (229 of the men); and medium
activity, between low and high (490 of the men).

During the study period, 150 of the men died.

After the researchers made mathematical adjustments for factors including
existing heart disease and smoking, they concluded that men with low sexual
activity levels were twice as likely as the high-activity men to die of heart
disease and 1.6 times as likely to die of other causes during the 10 years.

The medium-activity level men were 1.8 times as likely to die of heart disease
as the high-activity men, and 1.5 times as likely to die of other causes
during the 10 years.

The authors say that it is impossible for a study like theirs to prove beyond
any doubt that something such as sexual activity extends the life of men.

"But the evidence for causation is as convincing here as in many areas where
causation is assumed," they wrote.

"These findings contrast with the view common to many cultures that the
pleasure of sexual intercourse may be secured at the cost of vigor and well
being," they added.

In fact, the researchers said they could envision health promotion activities
similar to the "at least five a day" campaign aimed at increasing fruit and
vegetable consumption -- although the number might have to be adjusted
downward from that, they said.

The authors of the study were epidemiologists George Davey Smith and Stephen
Frankel of the University of Bristol's Department of Social Medicine, Bristol,
and John Yarnell, a senior lecturer in epidemiology and public health at
Queen's University of Belfast.

By GORDON SLOVUT, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
Copyright 1998 Nando.net
Copyright 1998 Scripps Howard

janet paterson
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