Thursday, April 10, 2008

Talking to Doctors About Senior Sex

In the study of sex in people over 57 years old that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine last August, one of the findings was that only 38% of people in the sample had ever talked with a doctor about sex. (When I mentioned that to a doctor, he replied that his guess, at least here in Massachusetts, would have been half that.)

Which is kind of funny, because as we get older the "machinery" changes. We can't just take things for granted anymore and sometimes the convergence of blood flow, lubrication, and psychological excitement just doesn't all come together at the right time. But there is help with many if not most of these kinds of things and there is more knowledge and more possible intervention all the time.

Not only that, erectile dysfunction can be an early warning of impending heart and circulation problems, even earlier than more traditional measures.

There are lots of good reasons to let the doctor know what you are experiencing, wondering, fearing as you get older.

Also, many drugs have loss of libido as a side effect. Don't let the doctor assume that because you are older, you don't care about sex anymore and it won't matter how your sex life is affected, just get the blood pressure down or whatever. And that includes solo sex too.

Look, if some young physician is shocked that people want and enjoy sex throughout their lives it's time someone break it to them. You'll be doing them a favor.

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