Is sex necessary?
Fans of abstinence had better be sitting down. "Saving yourself" before the big game, the big business deal, the big hoedown or the big bake-off may indeed confer some moral benefit. But corporeally it does absolutely zip. There's no evidence it sharpens your competitive edge.
The best that modern science can say for sexual abstinence is that it's harmless when practiced in moderation. Having regular and enthusiastic sex, by contrast, confers a host of measurable physiological advantages, whether you're male or female. (This assumes that you are engaging in sex without contracting a sexually transmitted disease.)
In one of the most credible studies correlating overall health with sexual frequency, Queens University in Belfast, Ireland, tracked the mortality of about 1,000 middle-aged men over the course of a decade. The study was designed to compare persons of comparable circumstances, age and health. Its findings, published in 1997 in the British Medical Journal, were that men who reported the highest frequency of orgasm enjoyed a death rate half that of the laggards.
Click here for a slide show on the health benefits of sex.
While possession of a robust appetite for sex--and the physical ability to gratify it--may not always be a prescription for perfect health, a reluctance to engage can be a sign that something is seriously on the fritz, especially where the culprit is an infirm erection.
Dr. J. Francois Eid, a urologist with Weill Medical College of Cornell University and New York Presbyterian Hospital, observes that erectile dysfunction is an extension of the vascular system. A lethargic member may be telling you that you have diseased blood vessels elsewhere in your body. "It could be a first sign of hypertension or diabetes or increased cholesterol levels," Eid says. "It's a red flag that you should see your doctor."
Treatment and exercise, says Eid, can have things looking up again. "Men who exercise and have a good heart and low heart rate, and who are cardio-fit, have firmer erections," he says. "There very definitely is a relationship."
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