The Surprising Secret About Sex After 60
Dear Reader,
Sex.
It’s the most common “taboo” topic I hear about in my practice—and it’s usually coming from my senior patients.
Surprisingly, the question I hear most often isn’t about the ABILITY to keep having sex…but whether it’s SAFE to. Especially when it comes to heart health.
But I’ll tell you exactly what I tell them…
If you’ve been avoiding sex because you’re afraid it could hurt your heart, boy do I have good news for you today.
For the first time ever, researchers analyzed people who had experienced sudden cardiac arrest—that’s when your heart stops beating due to problems with electrical activity—to see if sex triggered the attack.
Great news… the answer was a resounding NO.
Out of 4,500 hundred people who had experienced sudden cardiac arrest, less than 1% occurred during or immediately after sex.
Even though the chances are VERY small, men still have a greater risk, at about a 1% chance, compared to a woman’s .1% chance.
One of the reasons why sudden cardiac arrest is so scary is because it’s so deadly. Not many people survive it.
But if this does ever happen to you or someone you know—regardless of when it occurs—one of the best ways to improve the chance of survival is to perform CPR.
This study makes it clear that sex is not bad for your heart. But study after study shows just how beneficial it is for practically every area of your life.
Here are 5 specific ways sex can make life better:
- It improves sleep. Sex decreases cortisol (the stress hormone), which reduces stress and allows for more sound sleep.
- It’s a powerful pain reliever. Sex also increase the hormone oxytocin…which increases endorphins…which are powerful natural pain relievers (for both physical and emotional pain).
- It reduces risk of prostate cancer.
- It’s great exercise! We all know the benefits of exercise, why not have a little fun in the process?
- It can make you happier. (Duh!)
If you feel like you’ve had your hands tied when it comes to your sex life, it’s time to put those shackles to better use.
To a brighter day,
Dr. Richard Gerhauser, M.D.
