ordinaryguy
Aug 23, 2007, 06:01 AM
Elderly Staying Sexually Active (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/22/AR2007082202000.html?hpid=topnews)
Anybody over 55, how does this match up against your own experience and your impression of your contemporaries?
Anybody between 35 and 55, do you hope and expect to maintain your current level of sexual activity into your golden years?
Anybody under 35, does this interest you at all?
I'm 61, been married to my current wife for 21 years. We stopped having sex three years ago, a combination of emotional estrangement, lack of desire, vaginal dryness and erectile dysfunction. I miss it terribly, and it doesn't make me feel better to know that many people my age and even much older still have decent sex lives. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for them, but I do feel kind of sorry for myself. Is that immature of me?
Excerpts:
The nationally representative survey of more than 3,000 U.S. adults ages 57 to 85 found that more than half to three-quarters of those questioned remain sexually active, with a significant proportion engaging in frequent and varied sexual behavior.
"This study paints a portrait of this aspect of older Americans' lives that suggests a previously uncharacterized vitality and interest in sexuality," agreed Georgeanne E. Patmios of the National Institute on Aging, the primary funder of the study. "This has not perhaps been fully appreciated."
"We found people to be grateful to have an opportunity to discuss these issues," said Lindau, noting that researchers achieved an unusually high 75 percent response rate from those they approached. "The topics we were asking about resonated with people. Many said they had never had a chance to talk to anyone about these issues, not even a spouse or their physicians."
"Our findings indicate that when it comes to sexual activity, older people are really just younger people later in life," Lindau said "There's no reason to believe they give up the basic human desire for love and intimacy and the kind of pleasure that comes from intimate relationships."
Among those who remained sexually active, nearly half reported at least one sexual problem. Forty-three percent of women reported a lack of sexual desire, 39 percent of women reported vaginal dryness, and 37 percent of men reported problems achieving an erection.
Anybody over 55, how does this match up against your own experience and your impression of your contemporaries?
Anybody between 35 and 55, do you hope and expect to maintain your current level of sexual activity into your golden years?
Anybody under 35, does this interest you at all?
I'm 61, been married to my current wife for 21 years. We stopped having sex three years ago, a combination of emotional estrangement, lack of desire, vaginal dryness and erectile dysfunction. I miss it terribly, and it doesn't make me feel better to know that many people my age and even much older still have decent sex lives. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for them, but I do feel kind of sorry for myself. Is that immature of me?
Excerpts:
The nationally representative survey of more than 3,000 U.S. adults ages 57 to 85 found that more than half to three-quarters of those questioned remain sexually active, with a significant proportion engaging in frequent and varied sexual behavior.
"This study paints a portrait of this aspect of older Americans' lives that suggests a previously uncharacterized vitality and interest in sexuality," agreed Georgeanne E. Patmios of the National Institute on Aging, the primary funder of the study. "This has not perhaps been fully appreciated."
"We found people to be grateful to have an opportunity to discuss these issues," said Lindau, noting that researchers achieved an unusually high 75 percent response rate from those they approached. "The topics we were asking about resonated with people. Many said they had never had a chance to talk to anyone about these issues, not even a spouse or their physicians."
"Our findings indicate that when it comes to sexual activity, older people are really just younger people later in life," Lindau said "There's no reason to believe they give up the basic human desire for love and intimacy and the kind of pleasure that comes from intimate relationships."
Among those who remained sexually active, nearly half reported at least one sexual problem. Forty-three percent of women reported a lack of sexual desire, 39 percent of women reported vaginal dryness, and 37 percent of men reported problems achieving an erection.