Orgasm - Medical Aspects - Health - General

General

Orgasm, and sexual activity as a whole, are physical activities that can require exertion of many major bodily systems. A 1997 study in the British Medical Journal based upon 918 men age 45–59 found that after a ten year follow-up, men who had fewer orgasms were twice as likely to die of any cause as those having two or more orgasms a week. A follow-up in 2001 which focused more specifically on cardiovascular health found that having sex three or more times a week was associated with a 50% reduction in the risk of heart attack or stroke. (Note that as a rule, correlation does not imply causation.)

There is some research suggesting that greater resting heart rate variability is associated with orgasms through penile-vaginal intercourse without additional simultaneous clitoral stimulation. As a differential hypothesis, resting heart rate variability measures were unrelated to orgasmic frequency from non-coital sexual activities. The authors concluded that greater resting heart rate variability is associated with orgasms through penile-vaginal intercourse, but not with orgasms from other sources:

Coitally experienced men and women (N=143) had their heart rate measured for 5 minutes and reported the frequency of various sexual behaviors and corresponding orgasms in a recent representative month. Partial correlations and analyses of covariance controlling for social desirability responding were used to examine the associations of sexual activities with time and frequency domains of resting heart rate variability. For men, greater resting SD of HR was associated with greater orgasm frequency. For women, greater resting SD of HR was associated with any vaginal orgasm. These findings remained after controlling for cohabitation. Sexual activities were unrelated to HF. Lifetime number of partners was unrelated to SD of HR and HF. Findings are discussed in the context of orgasms through enhancing HRV, and greater parasympathetic tone favoring the capacity to engage in, and in the case of women, to reach vaginal orgasm. The possibility of healthier people having greater resting HRV and more frequent orgasms through specifically is also considered.