Love, Actually…

For starters, a quick look at the very act of love-making will explain the point. When you get aroused, the excitation travels through sensory nerves to a reflex centre in the lower part of your spinal cord. Once the orgasm explodes it gets the sensory cortex and the limbic system jostling the hypothalamus and other structures in the brain, which control the autonomic nervous system and a ‘‘circular loop’’ is now in effect. Hormones (such as oxytocin, dopamine, norepinephrine, endorphins, estrogen and testosterone) are released into the bloodstream. Hormones play a large part in our development and our feelings, by transmitting signals from neuron to neuron.

Helen Fisher explains the difference between lust, infatuation and long-term attachment, in medical terms. Lust is driven by brain chemistry, plain and simple. So sleeping with someone just for the sake of having sex can be dangerous as your levels of oxytocin and vasopressin will go way up and these powerful chemicals can produce feelings of attachment with someone who is inappropriate. Romantic love is associated with dopamine, which, Fisher points out, results in obsessive feelings about the partner, while long-term attachment produces oxytocin. ‘‘A happy attachment induces a feeling of peace and security, and this is due to these chemicals,’’ says Fisher.

Back home, Dr MM Bhamgara talks about the ‘‘benefits of sexercise’’. He points out that sex is an instant cure for mild depression, insomnia and women produce double the amount of estrogen during love-making, which makes the hair shiny and the skin smooth. Sex reduces the hostility in Type A personalities. Like laughter, sex also burns up adrenaline, the stress hormone and, of course, boosts the immune system.

Here’s the final word from doctors at the World Stroke Congress in Melbourne—prolonged love-making is similar to jogging or brisk walking. So, don’t ration your passion!