Horny men less likely to suffer an early death than their peers, study finds
Horny men are 69% (yes, really) less likely to die young than their peers, research suggests
Men with a high sex drive live longer than their peers, a study suggests.
Japanese researchers examined and reviewed the health records of 8,500 men – most of them in their 60s – over seven years.
Those who said they were interested in sex at the start of the study had a 69 percent lower risk of dying from any cause at the end of the study.
Researchers believe that a low sex drive is a sign of overall poor health, such as poor nutrition, obesity, or other chronic illnesses.
A healthy sex life has long been associated with positive mental and physical health – with experts recommending having sex at least once or twice a week.
Japanese researchers followed 21,000 people – including 8,500 men – mostly in their 60s for seven years (stock image)
Dr. Kaori Sakurada, a medical expert at Yamagata University who led the study, said: “Men’s lack of interest in sex may be related to an unhealthy lifestyle.
In this study, men who reported a lack of sexual interest were more likely to be current smokers and have diabetes.
‘Furthermore… the absence of [sexual] interest can influence a range of inflammatory, neuroendocrine and immune responses.”
Sex has a number of benefits, including lowering stress and inflammation and boosting mood.
The study recruited 21,000 men and women from seven cities within the local prefecture, about 400 kilometers north of Tokyo.
The participants were initially questioned about their interest in sex, with each asked, “Do you currently have any interest in people of the opposite sex?”
Those who answered yes were counted as still sexually interested. But anyone saying “no” was defined as lacking sexual interest. This category also included people who were sexually attracted to the same sex.
Of the men, 7,032 (82 percent) said they were interested in sexual activity, while 636 said they were not interested in sex.
Those who weren’t interested in sex were more likely to be older, have diabetes, and be less happy.
But data showed that there was no difference in whether the men in either group were married or divorced.
For women, 9,551 said they were interested in the opposite sex (79 percent), compared to 1,835 who were not.
Women who are not interested in sex are also more likely to be older and abstain from alcohol. But, unlike men, they were also more likely to be divorced.
Scientists then followed the participants for seven years, during which time 503 deaths were recorded.
There were 352 male fatalities. Of these, 304 (four percent) were those who were interested in sex, compared to 48 (eight percent) who were not interested.
Analysis adjusting for BMI, age, marital status and other factors found that men who were interested in sex were significantly less likely to die during the study period.
On the other hand, among women there were 146 deaths, including 127 in the group with an interest in sex (1.3 percent) and 19 (one percent) in the group with no interest.
The scientists did not speculate why the pattern did not apply to women.