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American Morning

Paging Dr. Gupta: Sexually Active People Have Fewer Heart Attacks

Aired January 12, 2004 - 08:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk medical news right now -- the power of love and sexual healing. The cover story at "TIME" magazine this -- out today, in fact -- examines the relationship between sex and your own health.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is looking into it for us today.

Good morning -- Sanjay. Nice to see you.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Yes, in the mind and body, it's an annual issue that "TIME" magazine does. This year, focusing a bit on sex and its effects -- health benefits, that is, on the body. And this is something that's been widely studied for quite some time, looking at sex, looking at married couples, trying to put it all together in terms of: Are there health benefits? Are they definable? Are they something you can predict?

Some of the answers are coming back yes -- specifically talking about things like longevity. It was long known that married couples, for example, tend to live longer, but a large part of that might be the frequent and regular sex as well.

Heart disease, intercourse burns about 200 calories over 30 minutes, the same as exercising, doing aerobic exercise. That could be some benefit to your heart as well.

Things like weight loss, as well, as pain as well. This is sort of a new one, actually being able to reduce or eliminate pain, from migraines to menstrual craps.

All of these coming up in the issue of "TIME" magazine as benefits of sex -- Bill.

HEMMER: Sanjay, clarify something here. If you look at the list that they say are the benefits you get from sex, so many of these things can be tied to other parts of our life -- diet, exercise. Why so definitive on the tracing of sex to these, I guess, self- improvements as opposed to the way you eat or the way you conduct your life in terms of physical exercise?

GUPTA: And no one is ruling out those things either, Bill -- that is, diet and exercise is obviously an important part of it.

A couple of things, though. It's an interesting question you raise, because a couple of things -- sex being a very definable activity that can possibly have all these health benefits. That's something, again, that's been studied for some time. But researchers are starting to hone in on this as a specific cause.

Also, another thing they're honing in on is a hormone known as Oxytocin. This is a hormone that's actually released during sex and sometimes up to five times as much during sex as opposed to other times during just your normal behavior.

Why is this important? Because this Oxytocin can do all sorts of things for the body. It seems to have some benefit in terms of alleviating depression and anxiety; also in terms of acting as almost a hormonal band-aid. They find that people heal their wounds, for example, quicker -- people who are having regular sex versus people who are not.

All of these have to have some sort of definable cause. The mechanism for some time has been lacking. Now it appears that Oxytocin may provide that answer.

So, there are a couple of answers to your question.

HEMMER: I'll tell you, there's an elixir involved here, too. If you read that article, longer life, better hearts, stronger immune system, protection against certain cancers, lower rate of depression. I think that covers it, huh?

GUPTA: It sounds like quite a panacea there.

HEMMER: I would say. Today's prescription: more sex, from Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

GUPTA: Absolutely, two to four to six times a week was their prescription.

HEMMER: I see. Listen, the New You Resolution continues tomorrow. We're going to check back in on our five participants. Tell us about it.

GUPTA: Yes, you know, obviously this is something we've been very excited about. Coming up tomorrow, it's New You Tuesday. We're going to show you how all our participants have been doing as they struggle to make their progress in their first week. It's been a struggle for some of them, I'll tell you, already.

We're going to focus in on the new parents tomorrow, the Kirkbrides -- how they've been doing in finding time for healthier living in their already busy schedules. We're going to find out tomorrow. That's at 7:00 during the New You -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, thanks you, Sanjay. Talk to you again.

GUPTA: All right.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.



Attacks>


Aired January 12, 2004 - 08:35   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk medical news right now -- the power of love and sexual healing. The cover story at "TIME" magazine this -- out today, in fact -- examines the relationship between sex and your own health.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is looking into it for us today.

Good morning -- Sanjay. Nice to see you.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Yes, in the mind and body, it's an annual issue that "TIME" magazine does. This year, focusing a bit on sex and its effects -- health benefits, that is, on the body. And this is something that's been widely studied for quite some time, looking at sex, looking at married couples, trying to put it all together in terms of: Are there health benefits? Are they definable? Are they something you can predict?

Some of the answers are coming back yes -- specifically talking about things like longevity. It was long known that married couples, for example, tend to live longer, but a large part of that might be the frequent and regular sex as well.

Heart disease, intercourse burns about 200 calories over 30 minutes, the same as exercising, doing aerobic exercise. That could be some benefit to your heart as well.

Things like weight loss, as well, as pain as well. This is sort of a new one, actually being able to reduce or eliminate pain, from migraines to menstrual craps.

All of these coming up in the issue of "TIME" magazine as benefits of sex -- Bill.

HEMMER: Sanjay, clarify something here. If you look at the list that they say are the benefits you get from sex, so many of these things can be tied to other parts of our life -- diet, exercise. Why so definitive on the tracing of sex to these, I guess, self- improvements as opposed to the way you eat or the way you conduct your life in terms of physical exercise?

GUPTA: And no one is ruling out those things either, Bill -- that is, diet and exercise is obviously an important part of it.

A couple of things, though. It's an interesting question you raise, because a couple of things -- sex being a very definable activity that can possibly have all these health benefits. That's something, again, that's been studied for some time. But researchers are starting to hone in on this as a specific cause.

Also, another thing they're honing in on is a hormone known as Oxytocin. This is a hormone that's actually released during sex and sometimes up to five times as much during sex as opposed to other times during just your normal behavior.

Why is this important? Because this Oxytocin can do all sorts of things for the body. It seems to have some benefit in terms of alleviating depression and anxiety; also in terms of acting as almost a hormonal band-aid. They find that people heal their wounds, for example, quicker -- people who are having regular sex versus people who are not.

All of these have to have some sort of definable cause. The mechanism for some time has been lacking. Now it appears that Oxytocin may provide that answer.

So, there are a couple of answers to your question.

HEMMER: I'll tell you, there's an elixir involved here, too. If you read that article, longer life, better hearts, stronger immune system, protection against certain cancers, lower rate of depression. I think that covers it, huh?

GUPTA: It sounds like quite a panacea there.

HEMMER: I would say. Today's prescription: more sex, from Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

GUPTA: Absolutely, two to four to six times a week was their prescription.

HEMMER: I see. Listen, the New You Resolution continues tomorrow. We're going to check back in on our five participants. Tell us about it.

GUPTA: Yes, you know, obviously this is something we've been very excited about. Coming up tomorrow, it's New You Tuesday. We're going to show you how all our participants have been doing as they struggle to make their progress in their first week. It's been a struggle for some of them, I'll tell you, already.

We're going to focus in on the new parents tomorrow, the Kirkbrides -- how they've been doing in finding time for healthier living in their already busy schedules. We're going to find out tomorrow. That's at 7:00 during the New You -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, thanks you, Sanjay. Talk to you again.

GUPTA: All right.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.



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