Five major health benefits of sex for men: from boosting immunity to improving health and appearance.
**Healthy Sexual Life Begins with Sexual Happiness: 5 Major Health Benefits for Men**
In social situations, I'm constantly asked: Why do you urologists always emphasize male sexual health? Does that mean people can't live without sex? It's common knowledge that sex has three main functions: reproduction, health, and pleasure. Sexual activity is indeed closely related to physical health. This is a consensus across cultures and throughout history. Experts at New York University Medical Center point out that "a fulfilling sex life has a good relieving and suppressing effect on many ailments-headaches, back pain, depression, etc."
**Number One Health Benefit: Enhances the Body's Immunity**
A healthy and fulfilling sex life can reduce stress, improve the body's immune function, aid in the recovery from illness, and reduce the incidence of cancer. It can also maintain optimal lymphocyte function and a good immune state, regulate the secretion of adrenaline, dilate arteries, and promote blood circulation, thereby reducing the occurrence of diseases such as colds, high blood pressure, diabetes, ulcers, and joint pain.
A fulfilling sex life can bring extreme pleasure and excitement. The material basis for this feeling is the various neurotransmitters produced by the body. Research by Arvid Karlsson, the 2000 Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine from Sweden, demonstrated that the neurotransmitter dopamine not only influences behavior but also participates in the process of love and stimulates attraction to the opposite sex. The human sexual center is located in the thalamus, which stores various neurotransmitters, including dopamine, phenylethylamine, endorphins, and isoproterenol. Endorphins, in particular, are neurotransmitters that significantly improve mood. They not only improve brain function and maintain the youthful vitality of brain cells but also enhance mood, boost the immune system, improve the body's natural disease prevention and treatment capabilities, prevent aging, and contribute to pleasure and satisfaction during sex. Modern medical research has shown that sexual activity increases the secretion of endorphins, enhances the activity of macrophages and interferon, and effectively prevents and reduces the incidence of prostate cancer in men.
**Second major health benefit: Relieves tension and reduces anxiety**
Sexual intercourse is a cyclical process of alternating tension and relaxation. Before intercourse, the heart rate increases, breathing becomes rapid, and blood rushes to the pelvic area. After orgasm, tension disappears, leading to physical and mental pleasure and complete relaxation. This cycle of tension and relaxation also dispels many worries and anxieties. However, long-term sexual repression can generate distressing emotions. Some people may become irritable, prone to inexplicable outbursts of anger, and experience a decrease in the body's immune function, leading to various pathological conditions such as anxiety, tension, depression, headaches, insomnia, loss of appetite, palpitations, general malaise, weakness in the limbs, and joint pain. These symptoms are often caused by sexual repression. In real life, some couples experience tense relationships, constant arguments, numerous problems, and eventual emotional breakdown. While the surface reasons may be economic difficulties, personality clashes, or differing lifestyles, the core issue is often a crisis in their sexual relationship. One elderly man, whose spouse passed away two years prior, suffered from cardiac neurosis, became listless, and contemplated suicide despite repeated treatments. Two years later, when they met again, the old man was radiant and all his ailments had disappeared. This was because he had a new partner, and sex had given him spiritual satisfaction, providing a psychological therapeutic effect that medication could not achieve.
**Third major health benefit: pain relief and sleep aid**
The substances activated during orgasm can spread throughout the body, producing a morphine-like analgesic effect, which can relieve various ailments. Sexual activity is also a good sedative; it can quickly relax the body and help eliminate insomnia. The more fulfilling the sexual experience, the easier it is to fall asleep afterwards.
**Fourth major health benefit: Protecting the prostate**
Regular and moderate sexual activity can alter nonbacterial prostatitis caused by chronic congestion and accumulation of secretions in the reproductive organs.
**Fifth major health benefit: Body health and beauty**
Sexual activity is a relatively strenuous physical activity, engaging hundreds of muscles throughout the body and consuming almost the same amount of energy as participating in a tennis match. Regular sexual intercourse can enhance the endurance of the cardiovascular system and the overall physical stamina. Sexual intercourse stimulates the body to produce more sex hormones, which help maintain smooth blood circulation, keep skin supple, prevent depression, and maintain bone density. During intercourse, blood vessels in the skin dilate, resulting in a rosy complexion and making the skin softer, thus having a beautifying effect.
Sexual activity can also contribute to longevity. Japanese scholars have shown that a high level of sex hormones is the material basis for delaying aging. American scientists have confirmed that regular sexual activity greatly benefits health and lifespan. For middle-aged individuals, appropriate sexual intercourse helps prevent brain aging, avoids disuse atrophy of reproductive organs, and ensures sexual function and overall health. Domestic and international research has found that single people have a higher mortality rate than married people, widowed people have a higher mortality rate than those who have grown old together, and divorced people have a higher mortality rate than those who do not divorce; this phenomenon is particularly pronounced in men than women. Therefore, scientists suggest that one should never stop having sex, and that older adults should also maintain a normal sex life. Couples with harmonious sex lives maintain a good sexual desire until their deathbed; even without intercourse, caressing can produce similar health benefits as sexual activity, helping to combat illness.