You may be able to delay menopause with your sex life

If you are looking for another excuse to be occupied with this Valentine’s Day, here is a good one: it can push menopause for a little longer time.

Researchers from the University College London found that women who have sex once a week or once a month have a lower risk of entering menopause early compared to those who have less frequent activity in the bedroom.

“The findings of our study suggest that if a woman is not having sex, and there is no chance of pregnancy, then the body” chooses “not to invest in ovulation, as it would be futile,” said the main researcher and doctorate. Candidate Megan Arnot.

And good news for bachelors: sex should not be with another person.

In the US, women usually begin their menopausal transition between the ages of 45 and 55, a phase that can extend for several years.

The period is denoted by fluctuating hormones and irregular periods, often bringing unpleasant symptoms such as hot ignitions, night sweats, mood swings, vaginal dryness and joint pain.

A woman is considered to be in menopause officially when she has gone 12 consecutive months without a period and can no longer get pregnant. The average menopause age in the US is 52.

UCL researchers analyzed data from a US study that included nearly 3,000 women, who were, on average, 45 years old. Most participants had children, were married or in relationships and living with their partners.

None of the women had entered menopause from the beginning, but 46% were in the early perimenopause, experiencing some symptoms, while 54% were premenopausal, showing no symptoms at all.

During a decade, participants were interviewed for their health and lifestyle, including their sexual activity over the past six months. “Sex” was widely defined as sexual intercourse, oral sex, touch, caress or masturbation.

At the end of the study, 45% of participants had entered menopause at an average age of 52 years.

Researchers found that women of all ages who were involved in sexual activity each week had a lower likelihood of 28% of menopausal entry early compared to those who had sex less than once a month.

Women who had sex every month had 19% less likely to go to menopause early compared to those with even less frequent sexual activity.

These associations remained stable even after researchers were regulated for factors such as estrogen level, body mass index, smoking habits and age in the first menstrual cycle.

The study also explored if living with a romantic male partner can affect the onset of menopause, with researchers hypothesizing that male hormones could delay it. However, they found no connection, whether the male partner lived in the family.

“Menopause is, of course, an inevitability for women, and there is no interference with behavior that will prevent reproductive termination,” said Ruth Mace, co -author of the study and a professor of evolutionary anthropology at UCL.

“However, these results are an initial indication that menopause time can be adaptive in response to the likelihood of getting pregnant.”

One theory behind that is the body’s ability to prioritize where it invests its energy.

Pregnancy is unlikely due to a decrease in sexual activity, Artnot said the body may not have it useful to share energy for the ovulation process. On the contrary, it can redirect it in other pursuit, such as care for family members.

This idea is referred to as “grandmother’s hypothesis”, which claims that “menopause initially evolved to people to reduce reproductive conflict between different generations of women, and allows women to increase their comprehensive ability through investments in their grandchildren,” Arnot said.

Researchers also noted that previous studies have shown that a woman’s immune system is weaker during ovulation. If pregnancy is unlikely, the body can naturally close ovulation as a protective measure, helping to protect middle -aged and older women from infection or disease.

The study is the first to link the frequency of sexual activity to menopause. Arnot told CNN that while more sex would probably not hurt for women who intend to delay the onset of symptoms such as hot ignitions, their research did not specifically research the connection.

“The mechanism of relationship between sex and menopause is a promising way for future research and can open the door for behavior interventions,” she said.