Use it or lose it, boys. That's the message of a new study published in the July issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
Researchers found that men who had sex more often were less likely to develop erectile dysfunction.
A five-year study of men aged 55 to 75 from Finland found that those reporting sex less than once a week had twice the incidence of erectile dysfunction of those who had sex at least once a week.
"Regular intercourse has an important role in preserving erectile function among elderly men," said Juha Koskimäki, of Tampere University Hospital. "Continued sexual activity decreases the incidence of erectile dysfunction in direct proportion to coital frequency."
There were 79 cases per 1,000 of erectile dysfunction among men who reported having sex less than once a week. The number dropped to 32 cases per 1,000 among men reporting sex once a week and 16 per 1,000 among those who had sex three times or more each week.
The researchers also looked at the correlation between ED and morning erections, and found that men who had less than one morning erection per week were 2.5 times more likely to develop erectile dysfunction than those who had two or three morning erections each week.
So rise and shine, gentlemen.