Orgasm akin to a shot of heroin

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shooting heroinAMSTERDAM - According to Groningen professor Gert Holstege, an orgasm is akin to a shot of heroin and his findings could assist in the production of a so-called orgasm pill.

Holstege said the interim results of his study - which showed that an orgasm and heroin have a similar effect on the brain and could be thus similar experiences - could have positive consequences for those who have difficulty having sex, such as the elderly, newspaper De Telegraaf reported on Wednesday.

The Rijksuniversiteit Groningen professor said researchers used a so-called PET scan to conduct the investigation and sought willing volunteers to have sex inside the scan.

The person who experienced an orgasm was requested to hold his or her head still while experiencing the physical sensation. The volunteers had practised before engaging in the research. Male participants were also requested to ejaculate within seven minutes - something that most participants did not have any problems with, Holstege said.

The implications of the study means that a pill could in future be developed to assist people to not only have sex, but to also experience an orgasm. Erection pills such as Viagra, only assist people to have sex.

But the researcher denied the new pill would be a simple "fun pill", claiming that the medicine could totally influence a person's emotions, allowing them not only to have sex, but to bring it to a satisfying end as well.

"And that does not always succeed anymore with many men and women," Holstege said.

The professor also said that most people want to continue having sex right up until they die and do not relish the prospect of being unable to give each other an orgasm.

No time frame for the development of an orgasm pill was given, but Holstege said it would not occur in the short-term.

Brain Activation during Human Male Ejaculation (Relevant medical abstract)