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A new study of more than 20,000 people suggests that men with a low libido have almost two times the risk of suffering an early death.
The study by researchers from Yamagata University in Japan found that low sex drive in men has been linked to all causes of death including cardiovascular issues and cancer.
20,969 people (8,558 males and 12,411 females) over the age of 40 had their medical records and survey responses analyzed for over a decade for the study which was recently published in the journal PLOS One.
Those lacking sexual interest accounted for 8.3% of the males in the study and 16.1% of the female sample, the researchers revealed.
According to IFL Science…
In sum, they found that all causes of death were significantly higher among men who lacked sexual interest. This remained true even after they accounted for age, diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking, alcohol intake, BMI, education, marital status, frequency of laughter, and psychological distress.
Although the women in the study were more than twice as likely to report low sex drive than the men, the researchers didn’t find any link between their low libido and mortality.
“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 research paper reads.
“This study is the first to prospectively examine associations between sexual interest and all-cause mortality, and cardiovascular and cancer mortality in a community-based population.”
Men who took part in the study and reported a low libido were 1.94 times more likely to die from cancer and 1.36 times more likely to die from heart disease.
“Based on these results, we speculate that maintaining sexual interest may be related to positive psychological well-being and ‘ikigai’ especially among men,” the researchers wrote.
Ikigai is a Japanese concept referring to something that gives a person a sense of purpose, a reason for living.
However, just because a man is lacking in libido it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the only reason for their shortened lifespan.
The researchers also speculated that “male lack of interest may be related with unhealthy lifestyles.”
Compared to participants who had sexual interest, those who lacked sexual interest included significantly higher percentages who currently smoked, drank in the past, were psychologically distressed, laughed relatively infrequently, and had lower educational attainment. Among men, the rate of diabetes was higher in those who lacked sexual interest than in those who had sexual interest.
Naturally, if one is experiencing problems with things like their immune system or their neuroendocrine system, or are suffering from mental health conditions like depression, then a low sex drive may be a result. These issues, in turn, may lead to a lower life expectancy.
The researchers concluded that while further study is needed, “the findings of this study support that idea that maintaining sexual interest has positive effects on longevity, especially in males.”
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