Shunamitism is the practice of an old man sleeping with, but not necessarily having sex with, a young virgin to preserve his youth. The rationale was that the heat and moisture of the young woman would transfer to the old man and revitalize him.

The term is based on the Biblical

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

 story of King David

David

David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...

 and Abishag

Abishag

According to the Old Testament, Abishag was a young woman of Shunem, distinguished for her beauty. She was chosen to be a helper and servant to David in his old age. Among Abishag's duties was to lie next to David and keep him warm; however, David did not have sexual relations with her...

, a young woman from Shunem

Shunem

Shunem is a small village mentioned in the Bible. It was located in the tribe of Issachar, to the north of Jezreel and south of Mount Gilboa .Shunem is where:*The Philistines encamped when they came against Saul, the first king of Israel;...

. When King David was old and could not stay warm, his servants found Abishag to sleep with him, though he had no intimate relations with her: therefore, she was still a virgin.

Among scientific physicians, both Thomas Sydenham

Thomas Sydenham

Thomas Sydenham was an English physician. He was born at Wynford Eagle in Dorset, where his father was a gentleman of property. His brother was Colonel William Sydenham. Thomas fought for the Parliament throughout the English Civil War, and, at its end, resumed his medical studies at Oxford...

 (17th century) and Herman Boerhaave

Herman Boerhaave

Herman Boerhaave was a Dutch botanist, humanist and physician of European fame. He is regarded as the founder of clinical teaching and of the modern academic hospital. His main achievement was to demonstrate the relation of symptoms to lesions...

(18th century) prescribed shunamitism for their patients.