Do it more often!
A major study by University College London found that women have sex more than once a month associated with a lower risk of early menopause.
The researchers noted that sexual activity once a month or more often was associated with a 28% reduction in the likelihood of menopause at any of the estimated ages than with sex less than once a month. The sexual activity taken into account in the study included sexual intercourse, oral sex, sexual touching and fondling or self-stimulation.
The study is based on data from the study "Women's Health in Different Countries" (SWAN) in the USA. This is the largest, most diverse and representative longitudinal cohort study available to study aspects of menopause.
The results allowed the authors to assume that the lack of sex and the chances of pregnancy is perceived by the woman's body as a signal to stop ovulation as a meaningless process.
The idea that women avoid pregnancy in order to devote more time to their family is known as the "grandmother's hypothesis": menopause occurs in women to reduce the reproductive conflict between different generations of women and save energy for raising grandchildren.
During ovulation, the work of a woman's immune system is disrupted, the body becomes more susceptible to diseases. Given that pregnancy is unlikely with insufficient sexual activity, it makes no sense for the body to waste energy on a costly process, especially if it is possible to invest resources in an existing family.
The study is based on data obtained from 2,936 women selected as the main group for the SWAN study in 1996-1997.
The average age of women at the first interview was 45 years. Non-Hispanic white women predominated (48%), most of the participants had secondary or higher education. On average, they had two children, mostly they were married or in a relationship (78%) and lived with a partner (68%).
The women were asked to answer several questions, including whether they had had sex with their partner in the last six months, about the frequency of sexual contact, including whether they had had traditional sex, oral sex, sexual caresses in the last six months, and whether they had engaged in self-stimulation in the last six months. The most frequent type of sexual activity was weekly (64%).
None of the women had yet entered menopause, but 46% were in early perimenopause (the first symptoms of menopause appeared, such as menstrual cycle changes and hot flashes), 54% were in premenopause (had a regular cycle and did not show symptoms of perimenopause or menopause).
The interviews were repeated during 10 years of follow-up, during which time 1,324 (45%) of 2,936 women entered natural menopause at the age of 52.
Modeling the relationship between sexual activity and the age of natural menopause, women of any age who had sex weekly had a risk factor of 0.72, while women of any age who had sex monthly had a risk factor of 0.81.This means that women of any age who had sex weekly had a 28% lower chance of menopause compared to those who had sex for less than a month. Similarly, those who had sex monthly had a 19% lower chance of menopause at any given age compared to those who had sex less often.
The researchers took into account indicators such as estrogen levels, education, body mass index, race, smoking, age of first menstruation, age at the first interview and general health.
The researchers also took into account living with a male partner to assess the indirect effect of male pheromones on the age of menopause. They found no correlation.
Menopause, of course, is inevitable for women, and there are no behavioral interventions that would prevent the termination of reproductive function. Nevertheless, the results of this study confirm the hypothesis that the age of menopause may vary depending on the likelihood of getting pregnant.
Article by M.Arnotetal. Sexual frequency is associated with age of natural menopause: results fromthe Study of Women's Health Across the Nation is published in the journal RoyalSocietyOpenScience.
Aminatadzhieva, portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on UCL materials: Having less sex linked to earlie rmenopause.