It’s hard to believe that getting between the sheets with your partner can do wonders for the mind and the body but interestingly it’s the absolute truth. Sex is known to improve the moods between partners and strengthen the bond they share. Sex can increase your lifespan, reduce anxiety and can instantly help improve your mood.

As more research is done on sex, it’s becoming clearer that having a healthy sex is essential to a healthy life.
According to Dr. Irwin Goldstein, Director of Sexual Medicine at Alvarado Hospital, his latest research read “you can’t conclude anything else but that it’s healthy to have sexual activity”.

Having said that sex is good for your overall health and well being. Here are seven ailments sex helps cure or prevent.

Arthritis

Research suggests that the movement of the joints during sex can actually help people who suffer pain from arthritis. Arthritis experts and the Arthritis Foundation are increasingly spreading the word: Sex is good for sufferers of arthritic pain. Dr. George E. Erlich, an arthritis specialist in Philadelphia, found that 70 percent of arthritis sufferers reported that they experienced less arthritic pain after having sex. Sex produces more cortisone in the body, which can reduce inflammation, the cause of joint pain.

Common cold
According to Swiss researcher Manfred Shedlowski, sex can even help cure a common cold. This is because phagocytes, which are part of the immune system that attacks and kills common cold germs, increase during sex and double after orgasm.

A 2009 study conducted by Carl Charnetski and Frank Brennan of Wilkes University in Pennsylvania suggests this is true. The researchers found that college students who had sex once or twice a week had higher levels of immunoglobulin A (IgA), the body’s first line of defence against colds and flu. The study also found those who had one or two sexual encounters per week had a 30% rise in IgA levels.

Heart disease

If you think the act of sex leads to a higher risk of having a heart attack, then you’re in for a surprise, because the experts say that’s just not true. Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, says having sex is actually good for the heart. “In fitness terms, its equivalent is going for a mile-long walk or climbing up and down two flights of stairs,” says Dr. Graham Jackson, president of the Sexual Dysfunction Association. Studies have also shown that men who have sex at least twice a week have a lower risk of having a heart attack. And for the women, increased levels of estrogen are released during sex, which also help fight heart disease.

Sex reduces stress and lowers blood pressure

There is another benefit of the oxytocin released during orgasm: it calms the nerves. Studies done on lab rats have shown that oxytocin counteracts the effects of cortisol, which is a stress hormone. Sex also helps you sleep better. When your partner rolls over and starts snoring after a good bout in the bed, it’s not just from physical exhaustion. Oxytocin not only calms you down but it also specifically promotes sleep.

Sex reduces the risk of prostate cancer

In 2003, Australian researchers published a study showing that the more often men ejaculate between the ages of 20 and 50, the less likely they are to develop prostate cancer. According to the author of the study, men in their 20s should probably be ejaculating once a day. A similar study performed a year later by the National Cancer Institute showed that men who ejaculated at least five times a week, whether through sex or masturbation, were less likely to get prostate cancer. “The claim physiologically,” Goldstein told us, “is that if you empty out the tank every so often, it’s healthier than holding onto the material within the tank.”

REDUCES RISK OF BREAST CANCER

Women can get in on this sex-as-preventive-care thing too. According to Goldstein, studies show that “women who have vaginal intercourse often have less risk of breast cancer than those who don’t.” Goldstein added that it’s “pretty interesting and exciting and needs to be studied more.”

According to multiple online reports, doctors recommend that women reduce the risk of getting breast cancer by having their breasts sucked thoroughly and vigorously. It is said that regular sucking of the breast lowers the risk level that tends to build up lumps leading to breast cancer.

However, what has been scientifically proven is the fact that breast sucking when properly performed is of immense pleasure to the woman and may sometimes on its own lead to orgasm or when combined with some other forms of sexual stimulation will help a woman to achieve orgasm quicker.

Sex prevents preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is a fairly common condition in which hypertension arises during pregnancy. Preeclampsia occurs any time after the 20th week of pregnancy. It can even occur after the birth of the baby, but preeclampsia after delivery is much less common than during pregnancy. A number of studies have shown that if a woman has had enough exposure to her partner’s semen prior to conception, she is significantly less likely to get preeclampsia. Tests conducted by Dutch biologists in 2000 confirmed that women who regularly practice oral sex — particularly those who swallow their partner’s semen — have a much lower risk of preeclampsia.

Source Healthline