Study Says Women Who Have Regular Sex Live Longer

While sex can have the obvious pleasurable effects, there's apparently another health bonus to regular intercourse: longer life.

A new study published in the journal, Psychoneuroendocrinology, researchers found that women who have regular sex with their partner possess DNA evidence of longer life-spans compared to non-sexually active women.

Researchers also concluded that the quality of the relationship really didn't matter, it's just the amount of sex.

The study involved 129 women between the ages of 20 and 50, who were quizzed about their love lives, and then had their telomeres measured — the protective caps on the ends of DNA that aid in determining how long a person will live.

Likened as "tiny internal clocks," they shorten over time as you get older, meaning the longer your telomeres are, the longer you'll live.

Women in the study who had active sex lives also had telomores that were 30 percent longer.

"This is an important finding," the researchers said. "It provides new evidence that sexual intimacy within long-term relationships has health-enhancing benefits.''

It's not sure why this correlation is there, but one theory involves stress.

Stress is a believed cause of telomere depletion. Sex relieves stress, so that could be the key.

Men were not tested, but sex is believed to have similar health benefits for them.

"We don't know whether the same finding would be seen in men," researchers said. "It may apply to men — there is no obvious reason why it should not."

This article was originally published by our partners at www.popculture.com.

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