If you’re looking for another excuse to get busy this Valentine’s Day, here’s a good one: It could push menopause off for a little while longer.
Researchers from University College London (UCL) found that women who engage in sex once a week or even once a month have a lower risk of entering menopause early compared to those who have less frequent bedroom activity.
“The findings of our study suggest that if a woman is not having sex, and there is no chance of pregnancy, then the body ‘chooses’ not to invest in ovulation, as it would be pointless,” said lead researcher and Ph.D. candidate Megan Arnot.
And good news for singles: The sex doesn’t even have to be with another person.
In the US, women typically start their menopausal transition between the ages of 45 and 55, a phase that can stretch on for several years.
The period is marked by fluctuating hormones and irregular periods, often bringing on uncomfortable symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, vaginal dryness and joint pain.
A woman is considered to be in menopause officially when she has gone 12 consecutive months without a period and can no longer get pregnant. The average age of menopause in the US is 52.
UCL researchers analyzed data from a US study involving nearly 3,000 women, who were, on average, 45 years old at the start. Most of the participants had children, were married or in relationships, and lived with their partners.
None of the women had entered menopause at the outset, but 46% were in early peri-menopause, experiencing some symptoms, while 54% were pre-menopausal, showing no symptoms at all.
Over the course of a decade, participants were interviewed about their health and lifestyle, including their sexual activity over the past six months. “Sex” was defined broadly as intercourse, oral sex, touching, caressing, or masturbation.
By the end of the study, 45% of participants had entered menopause, at an average age of 52.
Researchers discovered that women of all ages who engaged in sexual activity weekly had a 28% lower likelihood of entering menopause early compared to those who had sex less than once a month.
Women who had sex monthly were 19% less likely to go through menopause early compared to those with even less frequent sexual activity.
These associations remained consistent even after researchers adjusted for factors like estrogen levels, body mass index, smoking habits, and age at first menstrual cycle.
The study also explored whether living with a male romantic partner could impact the onset of menopause, with researchers hypothesizing that male hormones might delay it. However, they found no correlation, regardless of whether the male partner lived in the household.
“Menopause is, of course, an inevitability for women, and there is no behavioral intervention that will prevent reproductive cessation,” said Ruth Mace, co-author of the study and a professor of evolutionary anthropology at UCL.
“Nonetheless, these results are an initial indication that menopause timing may be adaptive in response to the likelihood of becoming pregnant.
One theory behind this is the body’s ability to prioritize where it invests its energy.
With pregnancy unlikely due to reduced sexual activity, Artnot said that the body may not find it beneficial to allocate energy to the ovulation process. Instead, it could redirect that to other pursuits, like caring for family members.
This idea is referred to as the “Grandmother Hypothesis,” which posits that “menopause originally evolved in humans to reduce reproductive conflict between different generations of females, and allow women to increase their inclusive fitness through investing in their grandchildren,” Arnot said.
The researchers also pointed out that previous studies have shown a woman’s immune system is weaker during ovulation. If pregnancy is unlikely, the body may naturally shut down ovulation as a protective measure, helping to safeguard middle-aged and older women from infection or disease.
The study is the first to link the frequency of sexual activity with the timing of menopause. Arnot told CNN that while more sex probably wouldn’t hurt for women aiming to delay the onset of symptoms like hot flashes, their research didn’t specifically explore the connection.
“The mechanism of the relationship between sex and menopause is a promising avenue for future research and could open the door on behavioral interventions,” she said.
