Men with low libido are twice as likely to die early, a new study has shown. The first of its kind to establish a link between libido and longevity, the research found that a lack of sexual interest could be a sign of poor lifestyle choices such as smoking, overeating and excessive drinking – habits that increase risk of chronic diseases.
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Novel research
A team of researchers from Yamagata University, set out to examine links between sexual interest and ‘all-cause’ mortality including cardiovascular diseases and cancer. The findings published in the journal PLoS One, were based on the medical records and survey answers of more than 20,000 men and women in Japan for over a decade. According to the study authors:
Although sexual activity and sexual satisfaction are considered of benefit to psychological health and wellbeing in older groups, the association between sexual interest and longevity has not been investigated
The participants – 8,558 males and 12,411 females aged 40 and above – were asked to complete sexual interest surveys during health check-ins. Those who reported a lack of sexual interest tended to be older, were likely to drink more, had diabetes, laughed less, had some variation of psychological distress and had achieved lower education levels, the New York Post reported.
Libido and life span
Results of the research revealed that middle-aged men who had low libido were 1.94 times as likely to die from cancer and 1.36 times as likely to die of heart disease.
Men with lower sex drives also reported lacking ikigai, a Japanese term for the reason of having a life worth living — a quality some may describe as having a ‘zest for life’. The researchers thus concluded:
Based on these results, we speculate that maintaining sexual interest may be related to positive psychological well-being and ‘ikigai’ especially among men
Interestingly, although the females examined were more than twice as likely as men to report lower libidos, they did not find a link between that and mortality.
Sources used:
Daily Mail: Study that should arouse concern: Men with low libido are twice as likely to suffer an early death, scientists find
New York Post: Not being horny enough can lead to an early death: study
