What is the Link between Sexual Inactivity and Early Menopause
 

Is it true that engaging in less and less sex (as you age) can cause early menopause if you’re female?

If so, it can be scary news, especially if you have a vagina and uterus that you would love to remain fertile forever. But not so scary, because you can choose to stay sexually active and still live healthy and happier.

Well, it all sounded like a made-believe story until a Jan 15, 2020 publication featured in the Royal Society of Open Science released a report that could lend credibility to the idea.

The report found that females who engaged in sexual activity at least once every week were over 25 percent are less susceptible to early menopause than those who never had sex in a month.

Other findings were that females who had sex per month were 19 percent less likely to enter early menopause than those who engaged in lesser sex than that.

According to the researchers behind the paper, engaging in sex or failure to do so sends signals to the body on whether to keep on ovulating or not.

“If a woman becomes sexually inactive, their body can inherently rule out ovulation as an unimportant process,” says Megan Arnot, Ph.D., University College London.

“On the other hand, if a female remains sexually active, her body may adapt and keep on ovulating for a longer period.”

Part of the investigator’s job was research to determine whether the body can delay menopause on detecting pregnancy. And after thorough scrutiny, the authors concluded that the female body could indeed detect sexual activity and pregnancy, and delay early menopause

'Engaging in Sex' involved Sexual Arousal, Masturbation, Oral Sex, and Intercourse

The researchers sought to know how frequently females take part in sexual activity, which entailed; sexual arousal, masturbation, oral sex, and penetrative sex.

According to experts, other sexual activities that don’t involve penetration send similar gestures to the body showing the possibility of conception.

The authors used the level of sex from any of the above-listed activities as the sex index.

All females who admitted to having penetrative sex once per month, and oral sex every week, had their sex index was recorded as ‘weekly.’

Because only a few respondents were involved, the investigators came up with three indices;

 (1) Weekly; for females who engaged in sex once per week, 

(2) Monthly; for those who had sex once or twice per month, and 

(3) Less than monthly; for females who hardly had any sex (in 1-6 months) or at all.
 

And while these studies failed to prove that active sex delayed the start of menopause or the lack of sex leads to early menopause, the investigators say what happens is “an adaptive reaction to the possibility of conception as menopause nears.”

A Direct Link or Merely an Association?

But Lauren Streicher of Feinberg School of Medicine feels that to conclude that sexual inactivity can cause the body to channel resources to other activities is far-fetched.

“We must remember the underlying differences between a direct link and an association. The research found that females who remain sexually active for long begin menopause later than their counterparts who do not have sex,” explains Lauren.

That doesn’t mean that a female won’t go into menopause if she continues having sex, according to Lauren.

“While there’s an association between females who begin early menopause and sexually inactivity (which makes sense), we cannot link this sooner-than-anticipated menopause directly to little or no sex,” she says.

You Lose Your Sexual Capabilities as You Age

Let’s not forget that as we age, our sexual function deteriorates. In essence, the primary purpose of sex is reproduction.

That is to say, if you lose your fertility or ability to reproduce, then you will most probably have a failing or inactive sexual function.

So we mustn’t rule out the element of growing old and how it can affect our sex life before we conclude that more sex or the lack of it can lead to late or early menopause, respectively.

What Could Start Early or Delayed menopause

Theoretically, menopause happens after a female misses their menstrual periods for twelve successive months.

Any period, whether weeks, months, or years that brings a female to that moment is the transition period, also known as perimenopause.

During this transition period, a woman is likely to experience sleeplessness, irregular cycles, hot flashes, mood swings, etc.

Gene Has a Role to Play in Menopause Timing

“Your genetics composition or alignment is one of the primary determining factors for when a female goes into menopause,” says Lauren.

“But genetics does not influence when your menses begin, as many people believe. Females don’t go into menopause because they no longer have ovaries, but because their ovaries grow old.”

“So if a mom experiences early menopause with no underlying medical condition, then their daughter is likely to follow suit.

Medical-related conditions can also influence when menopause begins. Some chronic and autoimmune disorders are known to cause early menopause

Other habits like smoking cigarettes have also been tied to the sooner-than-usual menopause.

Delayed Menopause is tied to better health

According to research featured in NCBI, a female who experiences delayed or late menopause is more likely to live longer and less likely to suffer heart-related disease, strokes, and so on.

But Regardless, More Sex is Still a Good Thing

Well, the benefits of sex are far-reaching. Lauren agrees that “more sex can better your general well-being, love-life, and closeness to your partner,” says Lauren.

“And while it may not be the cure or a preventive factor to many diseases, more sexual activity usually means general well-being,” she says.

Closing Up

Though sex will not make you live longer, it will offer a range of benefits that those who do not engage in sex will probably never enjoy.

Lauren cites a recent study that found that the health status of an individual is less significant than their age when it comes to sexuality or sexual activity.

According to her, a healthier female in their 60s is more likely to do more sex than a sick or unhealthy 40-year old.

Still, she says more sex is important and advises women to watch out for sexually transmitted infections.

“Safe sex is better than any sex; always follow standard best practices if you choose an active sex life,” Besides, ensure you go for STD tests regularly. concludes Lauren.

Contributor: admin