What Your Sex Life Might Be Telling You About Your Health

While there’s no exact science that directly links sex to the state of your overall health, the reality is that sex plays a huge role in how you feel and affects your general well-being.

You’ve probably heard everything from “great sex is an excellent cure for migraines” to “sex can help boost your productivity, clear your sinuses and is really good for relaxing”. But a change in drive or enjoyment can be a cause for concern.

Ask the average guy who is unable to get or maintain his erections and you’ll see that the first thing he’ll say is “something is wrong with me”. The same goes for women who don't find themselves turned on interested in sex anymore. These things happen more than is publicly admitted, of course. But the fact is, it doesn’t mean that something is seriously wrong with you.

In many instances, sexual issues are temporary or situational, and will resolve themselves over time. This is particularly true when the individual is going through certain situations like grief, stress at work and or home, family tensions, etc. Outside and away from that situation, these people will typically find their previous appetites intact. But sometimes, there's something else behind that loss of interest.

Hormones, Sex Drive, and Living Between the Lines

Let’s back up a little and see how this works. People get turned on because their bodies are releasing certain hormones -- in this case, testosterone and estrogen. In fact, the same goes for other hormones produced by your adrenal, pituitary, and pancreatic glands or organs. As levels of one hormone increase or decrease, it has an effect on the levels of other hormones in your body, all of which control different functions in your body.

The reality is that fluctuations in your hormone levels can throw many things off in your body, and your sexual health is no exception. Below, we'll touch on a few examples of how this can play out over the course of your life.

Low Sex Drive

Low sex drive can be attributed to a number of potential causes. For instance, people who are worried or stressed are under the effects of higher levels of cortisol, and are less likely to engage in sexual activity, frequently seeing lower testosterone levels. Popularly referred to as low-t, lower testosterone levels can also occur due to other health issues, or naturally over the course of the aging process. Men suffering from low testosterone can experience everything from low sex drive to fatigue, muscle weakness, loss of muscle mass, and even osteoporosis.

Contrary to what many might think, symptoms for women with similar testosterone issues are identical -- the same hormones occur in both genders, though in differing mixes, and the anyone can suffer from an overproduction of one or a lack of another.

Erectile Dysfunction

There are many causes of ED, but for the purpose of this article, we’ll focus on the hormonal aspect. Men suffering from low testosterone, typically during their midlife stages, can find themselves having a hard time getting erections.

This happens because the body requires testosterone to send signals to the brain to release nitric oxide -- the compound responsible for getting and maintaining erections. When this doesn’t happen, erections become nearly impossible to get and difficult to maintain. It’s interesting how a body part that’s of inconsiderable size can play such a critical role in men’s psyche. Because men think of erectile dysfunction as a verdict on their sexual prowess, they dread it. And when it happens, the reaction can be anything from shrugging it off to having a full blown panic attack about it.

Stressing about it invariably compounds the issue -- now you're cooking with elevated levels of cortisol again. There have been cases where men even developed symptoms similar to heart attacks brought on by anxiety related to their sexual performance. While their partners might not worry about it if it happens once in a while, more frequent occurrences may point to a treatable issue.

Vaginal Dryness

While there are many causes of vaginal dryness, a major cause is often connected to hormonal imbalance. Women suffering from low testosterone and estrogen can often suffer from this, resulting in increased instances of yeast infections and pain during sex. Vaginal dryness is often common for women in the perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopausal stages, due to decreasing hormone production.

Prediabetes and Diabetes

While this may not directly have anything to with your sex life, it does play a critical role. The pancreas produces insulin, the hormone responsible for delivering sugars to your cells. When there’s excess sugar in your body for a prolonged period, the body attempts to convert it into energy as quickly as possible. When it can’t, it will store it as fat. And if you don’t do anything to accelerate the burning of those sugars, this can result in what is known as insulin resistance, eventually causing diabetes.

While the link between the two is still the subject of much research, there have been associations made between the two, and many men who suffer from erectile discomfort later find they have diabetes, and many with diabetes suffer from decreased sexual desire.

Retrograde Ejaculation

While this could fall under diabetes concerns, it deserves a separate mention. Retrograde ejaculation is when your ejaculate flows into the bladder instead of going outside the body through the urethra. This is often common in men suffering from diabetes and happens in conjunction with neuropathy or nerve damage. Your sexual health is an important part of your life. If you think you might be suffering from a hormone imbalance or other issue, talk to your doctor to see if hormone replacement therapies like those offered by Body Concepts and Wellness is right for you.

Source  : http://www.examiner.com/article/what-your-sex-life-might-be-telling-you-about-your-health