July 17, 2008 – Having sex at least once a week would help men 55 and over prevent erectile dysfunction.
This is the conclusion of a Finnish study1 conducted among 989 men aged 55 to 75 years. The participants answered a first questionnaire in 1999, then a second in 2004. To be selected, the men must not have had erectile dysfunction at the start of the study.
According to the results, the higher the frequency of intercourse, the lower the risk of experiencing moderate or complete erectile dysfunction.2. Men who had less than one intercourse per week were twice as likely to have erectile dysfunction than those who had sex per week. And participants who had three to four intercourse a week were four times less likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction.
“If you do not use your legs, they will work less well, illustrates Jules Bureau, sexologist and psychologist3. The same goes for erectile function: it must be maintained through regular sexual intercourse. “
The study focuses exclusively on coitus, without taking into account masturbation or oral-genital intercourse. According to Jules Bureau, these gestures also help maintain the vascular functions of the penis.
Charles Désy – PasseportSanté.net
1. Koskimäki J, Shiri R et al. Regular intercourse protects against erectile dysfunction: Tampere Aging Male Urologic Study, American Journal of Medicine, 2008 Jul; 121 (7): 592-6.
2. To assess the degree of erectile dysfunction, the researchers used the simplified form of the International Index of Erectile Function, a diagnostic tool with five multiple-choice questions. A scoring system indicates whether the disorders are absent, mild, moderate or complete. For a simplified or complete version of this test: www.adirs.org/IIEF.ASP.
3. Jules Bureau is a retired professor in the Department of Sexology at the University of Quebec at Montreal.