Frequent Sex Could Prevent Erectile Dysfunction, Study Shows.

A healthy sex life has long been one of the indicators of a person's general health. A new study published in the July issue of American Journal of Medicine however, has come up with a set of findings that reveal the very close connection between the frequency of sexual encounters and a person's ability to have longer lasting erections. The Tampere Male Urological Study was conducted on nearly 1000 Finns, aged between 50 and 75. All men were sent questionnaires that included questions related to the frequency of sexual intercourse, and the kind of erections that they had. The study only included men who did not suffer from any major medical conditions. Participants were not allowed to consider masturbation in their responses. Once the questionnaires had been sent out, there was no further testing for the next 5 years.

Then, researchers went back to the participants, and enquired about their general health. Participants were asked about any erection problems that had come up since the questionnaires had been sent out 5 years ago.

The results of the study seem to prove a clear and strong correlation between the frequency of sexual encounters and the quality of erections. A sexual encounter at least once a week was found to reduce by up to 50% the chances of developing erectile dysfunction. This was in contrast to those men who reported a sexual encounter less than once a week.

The study clearly revealed that the greater the amount of sex, the better the man's sexual health.

Findings like these have been the subject of speculation for years now, but there has never been solid research that supports any such belief. Also, proving such findings tends to be extremely difficult because many men have a tendency to exaggerate the number of sexual encounters, as well as the quality of their erections. Boastfulness is common, and hinders studies that seek to prove the relation between frequent sex and erectile dysfunction.

So, what is the connection between frequent sexual encounters and the positive effects they have on a man's sexual health? To understand the reasons for this, it is necessary to explore the mechanism of an erection. When a man is aroused through any kind of stimulus, blood flows into the penile shaft, engorging it and bringing it to life. This blood that floods the shaft, brings with it oxygen. So, an erect penis is a fully oxygenated one. The sensitive penile tissue, like any other tissue in the body thrives on oxygen. However unlike other tissues in the body, penile tissue is oxygenated or receives oxygen for just about 3 hours in a day.

Scientists have now begun to wonder if the lack of oxygen to the penile tissue because of infrequent erections is responsible for the development erectile dysfunction. Since oxygen is so important to the health of tissues, including penile tissue, it makes sense that a very rare supply of oxygen could actually leave the penile tissue less flexible, and gradually, even lower the response time to sexual stimuli.

This oxygen deprivation theory also explains erectile dysfunction that often occurs after certain types of surgery like prostatectomies. Many men lose their ability to have an erection after they have had a prostatectomy, even permanently. This is linked to the decrease number of erections after a surgery, which means decreased supply of oxygen to the penile tissue. As this sexual deprivation continues for weeks after surgery, the penile tissue tends to become starved of oxygen, unused, and turns more and more into a scar tissue.

One thing appears to be clear. The relation between frequent intercourse and a well oxygenated penile tissue is only evident as long as the blood supply continues for a certain period of time. The erection should be maintained for a certain period of time for any long term sexual health benefits to be seen. For this reason, the researchers did not include masturbation in the study because masturbation is generally quicker, and the amount of time the oxygenation of penile tissue continues is very limited.

At this point, it appears that male sexual health and the lack of erectile dysfunction is linked to active, regular sex with a partner, and not masturbation.

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