More sex wards off erection trouble in older men: study
Older men who have more sex will experience fewer erection problems, Finnish researchers reported in the July issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
The five-year study of 989 men aged 55-75 in Pirkanmaa, Finland, showed that having sexual intercourse less than once per week doubled the risk of erectile dysfunction (ED), compared to having sex once per week.
The researchers of the Department of Urology of Tampere University Hospital, in Finland, checked for other factors that may affect the incidence of ED, such as age and chronic medical conditions including diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and depression.
They found that ED affected 79 out of 1,000 men who reported making love less than once per week. The rate dropped to 32 per 1,000 among men making love once per week, and to 16 per 1,000 for those doing it three times or more per week.
"Regular intercourse has an important role in preserving erectile function among elderly men," said Juha Koskimaki, one of the study's authors.
"The investigators advise clinicians to support the sexual activity of their patients," the study concluded.
