A Lowered Libido Is Dangerous?
Having intimacy can save lives. Who knew?
A new study by researchers at the Anglia Ruskin University studied the health of 5,7000 men over 50 and found a connection between sexual activity and serious health conditions. Namely, men of that age who were less active had a higher risk of serious illnesses rising.
The study published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior looked at UK people over 50, both men and women, who were participating in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
The collected data found that women are 64 percent more likely to report being seriously ill if they experience intimacy less often. But for women, there resulted in apparently no rise in risk. For men whose libido stayed the same or got better, there was some risk but it wasn’t too bad. Only 15 percent developed a long-standing illness like cancer or a disability like arthritis in the next four years.
Unfortunately, their peers with libidos that dropped had a higher rate of the same issue. Twenty-five percent of these men were diagnosed with a similarly difficult illness or disability. Men who said their sexual lives were significantly smaller than in the past year were 69 percent more likely to have a longstanding illness. The rate of cancer was 6.7 percent in this group of men, while the rate for men who had a steady or increasing libido was 4.3 percent.
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What The Researchers Say
The researchers who studied the four-year-long data say that a decline in intimacy is a warning sign of health issues to come. If people 50 and older are too tired to make love, that’s a sign of fatigue caused by or resulting in other issues. In addition, impotence could lead to vascular problems that then increase the risk of heart disease.
“It is important to remember that sex is a form of physical activity, albeit often performed at a moderate intensity, which burns around 3.6 calories a minute,” Dr Lee Smith, the senior author of the study from Anglia Ruskin University, said. “All exercise comes with health benefits and sex is no different.”
So all of this info is to say that health experts should ask their patients about their sex lives. If the patient explains a decrease in his libido in the past year, there could be red flags waving at a bigger issue afoot.
In addition, people who are 50 and older, be aware of the smaller details like the rate at which you make love. It could be a wakeup call and sign that your health and life is on the decline. If you find yourself in a similar situation, maybe it’s time to see how other factors of your life, and especially your health, are doing.
