Sex could slow aging
2017-07-17 18:56:51.489919+02 by Dan Lyke 0 comments
Sexual intimacy in couples is associated with longer telomere length. Why is this important? Telomeres are the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes, shorten with each cell division, and when they get too short the cell dies.
So part of slowing aging appears to be longer telomeres.
From the abstract:
... women who reported any sexual intimacy during the course of the week had significantly longer telomeres measured in whole blood and PBMCs, but not in granulocytes. These relationships held covarying for age, body mass index, perceived stress, the relationship indices, and caregiver status. Sexual intimacy was not significantly related to PBMC telomerase activity. These data provide preliminary data that sexual intimacy is associated with longer telomere length. Future studies investigating these associations are warranted.
Correlation is not cause, and all that...