New study shows women who don't have enough sex are 'more likely to die early'
Topics: Health, Science, Sex and Relationships
Joe Yates
Featured Image Credit: Getty/Flashpop/Getty/Oleg Breslavtsev
Topics: Health, Science, Sex and Relationships
Having sex is a matter of life or death... or at least it is according to a new study.
It sounds like a line out of Ricky Gervais' hit comedy movie The Invention of Lying, where you would tell your partner, crush or just anyone, that you need to have sex for the longevity of their life.
But a study of 2,267 people in the US found that women who have sex less than once a week could be more likely to die early compared to those who frequently bang.
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Researchers examined data from a national health survey which 14,542 people took part in, although not all of them provided an insight into their sex life.
Of the more than 2,000 people that did, 94.4 percent claimed they would have intercourse at least once a month, while 38.4 percent stated they get jiggy more than once a week.
The authors of the study, which was published in the Journal of Psychosexual Health last month, said: "Sexual activity is important for overall cardiovascular health possibly due to reduction of heart rate variability and blood flow increase.
"Using findings from our study, we can infer that sexual activity, broadly defined, may ameliorate loss of function that can occur with age and the progression of disease."
Studies have previously stated that the average US citizen, who is of age, has sex 54 times annually, which roughly equates to about once a week.
So the 2,267 participants, aged 29-50, were split up into two groups - the people who have sex more than once a week and those that have sex less than once a week.
The study found that the women with a low sexual drive were 1.7 times more likely to have died from any cause by the end of 2015, compared to their female counterparts who would had sex more frequently.
And researchers also discovered a pattern - the less sex a woman had, the higher her risk of mortality was.
While they didn't find the same response in men, the study revealed that sex had a 'modifying relationship' on depression in both sexes - and those suffering with depression were apparently around three times more likely to die during the follow-up period if they weren't having frequent sex.
"Individuals with depression but high sexual frequency don't feel harmful effects of depression as much," Dr Srikanta Banerjee, lead author of the study, told DailyMail.com.
"Depression is something that leads to more increased mortality due to health outcomes. So perhaps sex is more effective because of the severity of how depression impacts females."
However, the researcher noted 'there are multiple theories'.
"For instance, sex releases endorphins that may prevent severe health outcomes," he added.
Next time your partner tells you they aren't interested, explain that their life, and yours, depends on getting it on.