This Is How Long Sex Usually Lasts

We're not saying you've peeked through the blinds to see your neighbors doing the deed, but chances are you've wondered how your stamina stacks up against everyone else. So yes, we're basically asking: Are you the tortoise or the hare?

Due to the private nature of sex, it’s a hard question to answer. Lucky for you, a group of scientists armed with condoms and calculators set out for scientific solution. They asked 500 heterosexual couples from five different countries to use a stopwatch to time sex, from insertion of the penis into the vagina to male orgasm, over a four-week period. (We realize this is a very specific, male-centric definition of sex that doesn't take into account women's orgasms or foreplay, but unfortunately it's the way this particular study was set up.)

The results? Researchers found sex lasts an average (technically median) of 5 minutes and 24 seconds. But don’t sweat it if you’re off the mark—findings ranged from 33 seconds to more than 44 minutes. This just goes to show that when it comes to sex, there really is no normal.

A few more interesting notes from the study: It appears that the time couples last in bed decreases as they get older, and the amount of time a guy takes to orgasm is not significantly affected by condom use or circumcision. So there you have it!

Source: greatist

‘Female Viagra’ Doesn’t Work Very Well: Study

Flibanserin, approved last year to treat low sexual desire in women, is linked to only a very slight increase in sex

 


The so-called “female Viagra” drug isn’t showing impressive results, suggests a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Last August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug flibanserin to treat low sexual desire in premenopausal women. The drug was the first to be given the green light for treatment of the condition in women, called hypoactive sexual desire disorder, or HSDD. Researchers in the Netherlands conducted a review on flibanserin to see how safe and effective it was, analyzing eight clinical trials in all: five published and three unpublished. Even though the studies in total looked at almost 6,000 women, the researchers caution that the quality of evidence is “very low”: the studies weren’t very detailed, they write, and the drug looked better in the findings of published studies compared to studies that were not published.

According to the results, the drug didn’t enhance most women’s sex life all that much, nor did it meaningfully increase the frequency of their sexual encounters. Taking the drug was associated with just one-half of an additional satisfying sexual event each month. It was also linked to a higher risk of sleepiness, dizziness, fatigue and nausea.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures flibanserin under the name Addyi, provided a statement from the company’s Chief Medical Officer Tage Ramakrishna, MD, saying that trials to secure FDA approval showed a statistically significant increase in satisfying sex. “It is crucial that women suffering from HSDD are able to speak to their physicians about the full range of options—including medical treatment—to manage this serious and well-established condition,” Ramakrishna says. “Analyses such as the one published in JAMA Internal Medicine, by omitting context and downplaying the importance of increased sexually satisfying events to those with HSDD, makes that conversation more difficult.”

More research is needed, the authors of the study say. “The data presented in this review suggest that the meaningful change caused by flibanserin is minimal,” they write.

Source: time