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 Researchers followed the fates of 1,120 men and women, who were 65
years old or younger at the time of their first heart attack, for up
to 22 years. During the study period, 524 people died.
Compared to people who reported not having sex at all during the
year before their heart attack, those who had intercourse more than
once a week were 27% less likely to die during the study period,
while those who had sex weekly were 12% less likely to die and
people who had some sex - but not often - were 8% less likely to
die.
The connection between sex and survival odds appeared even stronger
for people with active sex lives after they had a heart attack, but
with smaller differences between the people who were sexually
active. Compared to survivors who never had sex, those who had sex
less than once a week during the follow-up period were 28% less
likely to die, while people who had sex weekly were 37% less likely
to die and those who had sex more than once a week were 33% less
likely to die.
"Not surprisingly, the people who were sexually active were more
likely to be in a relationship, were younger, and generally
healthier," said Andrew Steptoe, head of the department of
Behavioural Science and Health at University College London in the
UK.
People who had sex more than weekly in the year before their heart
attack were 49 years old on average at the start of the study,
compared to an average age of 58 for people who had no sex at all
the year before their heart attack.
Sexually inactive people were also more likely to have high blood
pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and multiple chronic health
problems in the year before the heart attack than people who had sex
more than once a week.
Less than half of sexually inactive people lived with a steady
partner in the year before their heart attack, compared with 94% of
people who had sex more than once a week.
In the year prior to the heart attack, 67% of the people who didn't
have sex also didn't exercise at all, compared with 45% of people
who had sex more than weekly.
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When researchers adjusted for age, lifestyle, other health
conditions and socioeconomic factors, the link between being
sexually active and survival weakened, Yariv Gerber of Tel Aviv
University and colleagues write in the American Journal of Medicine.
Gerber didn't respond to requests for comment.
It's possible frequent sex leads to biological changes that help
people live longer, Gerber's team writes. Sex is associated with
longer caps on the end of chromosomes, known as telomeres, that tend
to shrink with age and in response to stress, the study team writes.
Longer telomeres are associated with longer life.
Regular sex is also linked to higher levels of the hormone
testosterone in men and women, they add. Low testosterone is
associated with both an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and
low sexual desire - so people who have more sex may also have a
lower risk of heart problems.
It's also possible that being sexually active is a sign of better
health rather than a cause of it. The study wasn't designed to
determine whether or how sex might help heart attack survivors live
longer.
"Sexual activity is often part of a close and loving relationship as
people age, but the relationship is probably more important than the
sex," Steptoe, who wasn't involved in the study, said by email.
"Although regular sex is part of healthy aging, people should not
feel that they 'ought' to have sex in order to try to live longer."
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/2YFImb4 American Journal of Medicine, online
July 8, 2019.
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