Don’t Worry, Be Happy . . . Often! (Levin Cont.)
There have been quite a few studies that have shown some relationship between mortality and number of orgasms, but they haven’t been without their flaws. One study showed a relationship of low heart disease with high orgasmic frequency, but the idiots didn’t adjust for the energy expenditure of intercourse. Doesn’t that like something you would obviously do? Actually, the energy expenditure of sex is minimal. I guess the amount of oxygen it takes your body to have sex is about the same as climbing two flights of stairs or taking a leisurely walk. So don’t listen to all those people telling you, “Sex is great exercise!” ‘Cause it’s just better than no exercise, really.
(Click to Enlarge)
Apparently there is a gender difference in the amount of orgasms and longevity. For men, it is more simply the amount of orgasms; but for women it’s about how satisfying those orgasms were. Because of this Levin digresses into a discussion of sexual satiety.
He talks about prolactin in the resolution phase and uterine contractions. Prolactin is a hormone that is somewhat similar to oxytocin (it aids in breast feeding), but the idea is that men and women also have a release of prolactin at orgasm that makes them experience sexual satiety. The idea was shot down because they manipulated the release of prolactin in males and females with drugs and found no difference. The other sexual satiety idea was that women experience intense uterine contractions at the final and most satisfying orgasm, but not at the previous orgasms. This would signal when women sexually satisfied. Remember all this was because women’s mortality rate was more related to quality, not quantity.
The relationship they found between prostate cancer and ejaculation was that men who had more ejaculations at a younger age were less likely to develop prostate cancer (this study was of about 30,000 males, that’s fricken huge!). The study didn’t discriminate between intercourse and masturbation another study was undertaken showing that men who had more sex under the age of 50 were less likely to have prostate cancer. There is also some evidence that orgasm in men actually increased the number of leukocytes (contrary to those player haters who say sex is bad for your immune system).
While not related to mortality, specifically, orgasm has been shown to reduce dysmenorrhea, pelvic cramping, and back pain associated with menstruation. Apparently about 9% of women will masturbate every three months in order to relieve these symptoms (that is a really random statistic, isn’t it? and really inaccurate probably, people have a hard time admitting they masturbate, even on anonymous surveys). I kind of wonder what that number would go up to if it were in the past 12 months.
The final and largest section of the article talks about the benefits of exposure to semen for females. This section really is benefits, not mortality issues. Women are about 15% more likely to have an ovum implant if seminal plasma are regularly in the vagina. So beyond the benefit of just having more sperm in the fallopian tubes, semen, for some reason, makes the female’s body want to implant the egg. Another benefit was that women who had sex without condoms were found to be less depressed than women who absorbed no semen/sperm vaginally. Vaginal contact with sperm also makes ovulations happen earlier and generally with a fertile egg rather than sterile ovulation. Oral consumption of sperm (people, this is evil information, don’t use it against your significant others) reduces the risk of preenclampsia (a risky condition during pregnancy). As you can tell these are just beneficial things not relating to mortality, unless you take into account that if you get pregnant you could experience difficulties.
I hope you made it all the way through it, hopelessly dry as it may have been.
Again, all information in this blog entry was provided by the article reviewed (below) or the links provided in the text.
Levin, Roy J. (2007) 'Sexual activity, health and well-being - the beneficial roles of coitus and masturbation', Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 22:1, 135 - 148
(Click to Enlarge)
Apparently there is a gender difference in the amount of orgasms and longevity. For men, it is more simply the amount of orgasms; but for women it’s about how satisfying those orgasms were. Because of this Levin digresses into a discussion of sexual satiety.
He talks about prolactin in the resolution phase and uterine contractions. Prolactin is a hormone that is somewhat similar to oxytocin (it aids in breast feeding), but the idea is that men and women also have a release of prolactin at orgasm that makes them experience sexual satiety. The idea was shot down because they manipulated the release of prolactin in males and females with drugs and found no difference. The other sexual satiety idea was that women experience intense uterine contractions at the final and most satisfying orgasm, but not at the previous orgasms. This would signal when women sexually satisfied. Remember all this was because women’s mortality rate was more related to quality, not quantity.
The relationship they found between prostate cancer and ejaculation was that men who had more ejaculations at a younger age were less likely to develop prostate cancer (this study was of about 30,000 males, that’s fricken huge!). The study didn’t discriminate between intercourse and masturbation another study was undertaken showing that men who had more sex under the age of 50 were less likely to have prostate cancer. There is also some evidence that orgasm in men actually increased the number of leukocytes (contrary to those player haters who say sex is bad for your immune system).
While not related to mortality, specifically, orgasm has been shown to reduce dysmenorrhea, pelvic cramping, and back pain associated with menstruation. Apparently about 9% of women will masturbate every three months in order to relieve these symptoms (that is a really random statistic, isn’t it? and really inaccurate probably, people have a hard time admitting they masturbate, even on anonymous surveys). I kind of wonder what that number would go up to if it were in the past 12 months.
The final and largest section of the article talks about the benefits of exposure to semen for females. This section really is benefits, not mortality issues. Women are about 15% more likely to have an ovum implant if seminal plasma are regularly in the vagina. So beyond the benefit of just having more sperm in the fallopian tubes, semen, for some reason, makes the female’s body want to implant the egg. Another benefit was that women who had sex without condoms were found to be less depressed than women who absorbed no semen/sperm vaginally. Vaginal contact with sperm also makes ovulations happen earlier and generally with a fertile egg rather than sterile ovulation. Oral consumption of sperm (people, this is evil information, don’t use it against your significant others) reduces the risk of preenclampsia (a risky condition during pregnancy). As you can tell these are just beneficial things not relating to mortality, unless you take into account that if you get pregnant you could experience difficulties.
I hope you made it all the way through it, hopelessly dry as it may have been.
Again, all information in this blog entry was provided by the article reviewed (below) or the links provided in the text.
Levin, Roy J. (2007) 'Sexual activity, health and well-being - the beneficial roles of coitus and masturbation', Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 22:1, 135 - 148
Labels: Journal Article Review, Sex
posted by W.P. Martin at
10:40 PM
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