Women nearing menopause who have frequent sex are less likely to cross that threshold than their colleagues who are not as active sexually, researchers said Wednesday.
Averagely, having sex at least once every week reduces chances of entering menopause by 28 per cent compared to women who had sex not even once in a month.
The study suggests that the difference reflects body’s reaction to evolutionary pressures.
Ruth Mace and Megan Arnot, both scientists at the University College of London wrote that “If a woman is having little or infrequent sex when approaching midlife, then the body will not be receiving the physical cues of a possible pregnancy.
According to this theory, instead of continuing to ovulate “it would be better — from a fitness-maximizing perspective — for the woman to cease fertility and invest energy into any existing kin she has.
“Earlier research seeking to explain why married women reach menopause later than never-married or divorced women points to the influence of male pheromones, natural chemicals in the animal kingdom that attract the opposite sex.
In their research to find out the level of accuracy in that theory, Arnot and Mace examined data on nearly 3,000 women in the United States recruited in 1996 and 1997 to take part in a multi-decade health study.
Known as SWAN, the project’s main objective was to collect data and track both biological and psychological changes that come with menopause.
The study was conducted on women getting into menopause, averagely of 46 years, none had entered menopause, but just under half were “peri-menopausal”, with minor symptoms beginning to show.
In the decade that followed, 45 per cent of the women experienced a natural menopause, at an average age of 52.
The study again shows that nearly 78 per cent of the women were married or in a relationship with a man, and 68 per cent lived with their partners.
As the research found, the correlation between frequency of sex and onset of menopause was is not mistakable.
All the relationships reported in the research were heterosexual, therefore it is not known whether same-sex activity would have the same effect.
