Dear Dr. Bortz,
I am an avid reader of Tuesday's New York Times because of their weekly science section in it. Several weeks ago it cited work by Dr. Cindy Meston at the University of Texas. She is said to have shown that female sexuality is enhanced by physical exercise. Have you any information on this topic? May Everett - Tacoma, WA
Dear May,
I read the same article with a similar interest. I called Dr. Meston, and she provided me with several of her references. In one of her experiments, she described how 36 sexually active women viewed two films. One was neutral, the other sexually explicit. When the women rode a stationary bicycle vigorously for 20 minutes before viewing the films, both subjective and physiologic sexuality were increased after the erotic film. The physiologic affect was noted by measuring vaginal contractions. She concluded that physical exercise, through its affects on the sympathetic nervous system facilitates sexual arousal in women. As you know, the last Fifty-Plus questionnaire contained items which related to sexual interest and performance. There is a report of this paper published in this Bulletin. Both genders of our membership reported substantially higher sexuality than non-exercisers. Chalk up another credential for being fit.
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