Just in case avoiding death isn’t a good enough reason to pay attention to your health, researchers from the University of Chicago offer another incentive: people who are healthy have better – and longer – sex lives.

Stacy Tessler Lindau and Natalia Gavrilova examined data from more than 6,000 American adults between ages 25 and 85. The men and women provided information about their overall physical health and their activity between the sheets.

The researchers found that people in “very good” or “excellent” health were 50% to 80% more likely to be interested in sex than those in poorer health.

What’s more, being in good health greatly boosted the odds of being sexually active. Healthy men were 2.2 to 4.6 times more likely to be sexually active than their unhealthy peers; for women, being healthy increased the likelihood of an active sex life by 1.6 to 2.8 times.

And among those who were having sex, those in good health were more likely to say their sex life was good. For men, good health meant having sex more frequently as well.

Sex Life Ends at about 70

The average person’s sex life ends by the age of 70, according to a report published today in the British Medical Journal.

Men age 30 have an average of 35 years of sexually active life remaining, compared with 31 years for women, researchers at the University of Chicago’s department of obstetrics and gynecology estimated after reviewing a survey of 3,000 people. A separate survey of older people showed that by 55, men have an average sexual life expectancy of 15 years and women can expect 10 more years, the researchers found.

People in very good or excellent health were almost twice as likely to be interested in sex as people in poorer health, according to the study. Men lost more years of sexual activity as a result of poor health than women, the researchers said. That may motivate men to pursue healthier lifestyles, they said.

“Translation of expectations about the duration and quality of sexually active life may, at the individual level, influence important health behaviors to promote or prolong sexual functioning, such as adherence to medical treatment or maintenance of a healthy lifestyle,” the researchers wrote.

In statistics, projections of how long people will live vary according to age. Life expectancy increases as people reach middle age because they have survived risks that earlier in life reduced their chances of making it to old age.

The team, led by Stacy Tessler Lindau, used data from a 1995-1996 survey of 3,000 men and women between ages 25 and 74 and a 2005-2006 survey of 3,000 men and women between 57 and 85. Men were more likely than women to be sexually active, report a having a good quality sex life and be interested in sex, according to the study.

The gap was largest among 75- to 85-year-olds. About 40 percent of men in that group were sexually active, compared with 17 percent of women, the researchers found.

Sex, health, and years of sexually active life gained due to good health: evidence from two US population based cross sectional surveys of ageing

Stacy Tessler Lindau, associate professor, Natalia Gavrilova, senior research associate
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Eli Lilly & Co., the maker of the impotence pill Cialis, bought exclusive rights from Acrux Ltd. to an underarm testosterone lotion called Axiron for men with limited sex drive due to low levels of the hormone.

Indianapolis-based Lilly will pay Acrux of West Melbourne, Australia, a $50 million license fee plus $3 million when manufacturing assets are transferred, the companies said today in a statement. Acrux may earn $87 million more if U.S. regulators approve the drug for marketing, $195 million in commercial milestone payments as well as royalty payments on future sales, the companies said.

Acrux filed a marketing application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in January in an effort to enter a global market for testosterone therapies valued at more than $1 billion a year. More than a third of American men older than 45 years have low testosterone, doctors found in a 2006 study. It can sap sex drive and cause impotence, osteoporosis and memory loss, according to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

“The addition of Axiron reinforces Lilly’s commitment to men’s health and, if approved, could provide a new treatment option for men suffering from low testosterone,” said Bryce Carmine, president of Lilly’s Bio-Medicines.

Results of a clinical trial released in September showed Acrux’s lotion, called Axiron, normalized testosterone levels in 84 percent of men after four months.

Acrux, which has never made a profit, was spun off from Monash University a decade ago and now has the chance to make a profit and provide dividends to shareholders, Ross Dobinson, the company’s chairman, said in a statement released today.

The company’s agreement with Lilly is “believed to be the largest licensing deal ever stuck by an Australian biotech company,” Dobinson said.

Acrux rose 3 cents, or 1.3 percent, to A$2.41 in trading on the Australian stock exchange as of 11:20 a.m. in Sydney. The shares have surged more than fivefold in the past year.

Axiron is a fast-drying, pleasant smelling testosterone 2% solution to be applied to the armpits once daily

Axiron, testosterone underarm to boost sex drive in men developed by Acrux Ltd will reach markets soon.

Axiron spray, when applied underarm in men with low sex drive because of decreased amounts of testosterone, restored the normal level of the hormone in most of the men, studies found.

Axiron spray restored levels of testosterone to normal in 84 percent of testosterone-deficient men after four months, Acrux said in a statement. Axiron has been studied 155 men in six countries and 26 sites.

Men were permitted to use an underarm deodorant or antiperspirant during the trial. More than half of the men continued to apply an underarm deodorant or antiperspirant as part of their daily routine and an analysis of these subgroups showed that this had no impact on the efficacy of Axiron treatment.

Mood, sexual desire, sexual activity and sexual performance before and after 4 months of treatment showed significant improvement from baseline across all measures.
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