A lifetime of loving sexual intimacy should be the goal for all couples. Loving sexuality has an important role in our world, where aging and isolation contribute to illness and disease, while sexual intimacy leads to vibrant good health and long lasting love filled relationships. Sexual desire and response do not have to decline with age, illness or routine. Loving sexuality should not become a part of life easier avoided or forgotten. At the Foundation for Intimacy, our goal is for everyone to have access to loving sexual intimacy that lasts a lifetime.

As Dr. Dean Ornish has written: “Love and intimacy are at the root of what makes us sick and what makes us well, what causes sadness and what brings happiness, what makes us suffer and what leads to healing. If a new drug had the same impact, virtually every doctor in the country would be recommending it to their patients. It would be malpractice not to prescribe it…”

Married couples who enjoy sex twice a week or more die with HALF the mortality (all causes) over a 10 year period of time than those that have sex once a month or less. For patients with heart disease, healthy and frequent sex produced an astounding overall mortality reduction of 68% over ten years (Smith G. Davey, British Med. Journal, 1997). Interestingly for men the frequency of sexual orgasm correlated, while for women it was the subjective perception of quality in loving sexuality. For both men and women in loving relationships, sex promotes health and supports the intimate connections, emotionally and spiritually, that weave it’s very fabric. Sexual intimacy is preventative medicine as we age.

We translate the old adage, “if you don’t use it, you lose it” into contemporary terms: “if you don’t use it, you lose out.” Why? Because sexual intimacy brings with it the comfort emotions of happiness, joy, pleasure, bonding and love. These counter the stressfull emotions of anxiety, depression, anger, isolation and fear.

The New York Times recently stated, “What Americans really need is medical help to juice up their sex lives”. There isn’t as much loving going on as people think. In a recent medical survey, 45% of married couples have sex a few times a month or less, 33% have sex a few times a year or less, and less than 8% have sex 3 or 4 times a week or more. And unfortunately, that’s unhealthy. By bringing state of the art science to an integrated program that addresses not only the relational and emotional components of loving sexuality, but also the treatable underlying medical causes, The Foundation for Intimacy develops and supports programs for lifelong loving.

Dr. Sheldon Cohen at the University of Virgina has shown that people with less sex and more stress are more susceptible to virus infections. And Wilkes, et all at the University of Pennsylvania proved that sex boost’s the immune systems ability to fight colds and flu. Dr. David Weekes followed 3500 patients over 10 years and concluded that those couples having more sex felt and looked younger and were in better health.

According to the World Health Organization, “A growing body of knowledge indicates that problems in human sexuality are more pervasive and more important to the well-being and health of individuals than has been previously recognized.” This was described as: “a significant public health concern.”

The Foundation for Intimacy addresses these concerns by providing a non-for-profit approach that specializes in a scientific approach to assessing sexual function, treating sexual dysfunction, and optimizing sexual health. Our diagnostic medical services include: Grey Scale and Color Doppler Ultrasound, Computerized Color Pelvic Floor Muscle Electromyography, Computerized Color Pelvic Floor Muscle Manometry, Computerized Genital Neurosensory Analysis, Computerized Sleep Genital Bloodflow Analysis, Computerized Bone Density Analysis, Quantified Vaginal Acidity Analysis, Reference Laboratory Comprehensize Hormone Evaluation, and University Performed Cellular Hormone Analysis. We take a positive approach to human sexuality and recommend treatment for the effects that stress, depression, medication, illness, hormones and aging may have on sexual function.

Falling in love brings all sorts of chemical reactions to the human body and mind. Increased endorphins, the rush of adrenaline, a release of pheromones and an overall sensation of feeling energized and vibrant. But over time that may not be enough, and we may need to supplement the body’s own abilities to achieve desire, arousal, and reliable sexual performance with science and medicine. Aging, childbirth trauma, inevitable hormone decline, pelvic vaginal muscle atrophy from disuse, decreased genital blood flow and genital nerve impairment all take their toll. Assisting health promoting sexual intimacy with hormones, vasodilators, and neural stimulants can restore and sustain arousal, desire, and a gratifying sexual response for the course of our lifetimes. Large studies have proven that intimacy and loving sexuality go hand in hand with good health and a longer life.

Disturbances of sexuality frequently combine both psychological and physical aspects. All too often it is assumed that psychological causes exclusively are to blame, when there are objective, identifiable and readily treatable physical components. The Foundation for Intimacy’s integrated approach directly addresses the concept that all components -mental and physical – should be evaluated and addressed.

Loving intimacy is one of life’s greatest blessings. An ever-increasing body of scientific research provides evidence that with healthy sexuality and loving intimacy we are healthier and live longer.