RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – If you have sex, you will be less likely to die from a heart attack. The statement sounds like an overt determination, but it is actually the outcome of a study on the risk of death following a heart attack.
Researchers at the University College in London have found that survivors of heart attacks leading sexually active lives are less likely to die in the next few decades than celibate survivors.
The study was conducted with a universe of 1,120 men and women who had suffered heart attacks up to the age of 65 and with a time interval of 22 years. During the duration of the study, says the “Mirror”, 524 study subjects died.
The investigation showed that when compared to people who did not have sex a single time in the year preceding the heart attack, those who had sex more than once a week were 27 percent less likely to die within the duration of the study.
Concurrently, those who had sex once a week were 12 percent less likely to die, and those who had sex even less often were eight percent more likely to die.
The relationship between sex and the likelihood of surviving a heart attack is even more pronounced in people with very active sex lives, the research shows, despite some differences between people. “Unsurprisingly, people who were sexually active were more likely to be in a relationship, younger and generally healthier,” said Andrew Steptoe, one of the researchers.