One of the earliest studies of aging, which began in the 1950s at Duke University and was published in the journal Gerontologist in December 1982, indicated that the frequency of intercourse for men and women predicted longevity, as reported on WebMD. Dissatisfaction in one’s sexual life has been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in other research....CONTINUE READING

Comparing 100 women with heart disease (acute myocardial infarction) to a control group, a research published in the November-December 1976 issue of Psychosomatic Medicine found that 65% of the coronary patients reported sexual frigidity and dissatisfaction, whereas only 24% of the controls did.

Although these studies established associations between sexual activity and various outcomes, including longevity, they did not address the question of what came first—the frequency or enjoyment of sexual activity.

The long-term study by David Weeks, MD, head of old age psychology at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital in Scotland, revealed that “the important factors for looking younger are being active and having a happy lovemaking life,” and was released as the book Secrets of the Super youthful.

Weeks discovered that “intercourse helps you seem between four and seven years younger,” based on ratings of photographs of 3,500 people ranging in age from 30 to 101. Clinical neuropsychologist Weeks speculated that lower stress levels, increased happiness, and improved sleep were to blame.

Michael Roizen concludes that we age less when we engage in intimate interactions because doing so “decreases stress, relaxes us, promotes intimacy, and strengthens personal connections.” Although research has not yet shown a cause-and-effect link between healthy relationships and increased lifespan, there does appear to be a positive mechanism at work here, a type of virtuous loop in which both interplay and health support one another.

Sexual activity and age

The MacArthur Foundation report “Successful Aging,” written by John W. Rowe, MD, and Robert L. Kahn, PhD, states that older individuals do continue to have intercourse, which may be a bit icky to hear for someone in their twenties (particularly when it involves their parents).

They refer to research from Duke University published in the November 1974 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society which indicated that “approximately 70% of males were sexually active frequently at age 68,” but only 25% were still doing so by age 78.

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