Sex Women In Years

Sex Women In Years

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TUESDAY, Feb. 15, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Lovemaking isn't just for the young — older people gain a lot of satisfaction from amorous relations as well.
But things get complicated as people age, and many folks let this important part of life drift away rather than talk about sexual problems with either their partner or their doctor, experts told HealthDay Now .
"Not many people talk about sex with their doctors, especially as we age," said Alexis Bender, an assistant professor of geriatrics with the Emory University School of Medicine, in Atlanta. "So many people do report sexual dysfunction on surveys, but they don't when they're talking to their doctors. And so it's important to have those conversations with primary care physicians."
It's worth discussing. A healthy sex life brings many benefits to seniors, experts say.
Sex has been linked to heart health, as well as overall mental and physical health. "It's definitely an association, and it's positive," Bender said.
For example, lots of beneficial biochemicals are released by the body during sex, said HealthDay medical correspondent Dr. Robin Miller. These include DHEA , a hormone that helps with cognitive function, and oxytocin , another hormone that plays a role in social bonding, affection and intimacy.
"Having sex is a really important part of overall health and happiness, and people that have it, they live longer," said Miller, a practicing physician with Triune Integrative Medicine in Medford, Ore.
Sex can actually get better as you get older, Miller added.
"For instance, for men, they can control their ejaculation better as they get older," Miller said. "Women aren't worried about pregnancy once they go through menopause, so they're freer."
Unfortunately, aging does complicate matters a bit when it comes to sex, Bender noted.
"For both men and women, we see changes in physical health such as diabetes or cardiac conditions that might limit desire or ability to have sex," Bender said. "Activity decreases with age, but interest and desire does not, for both men and women."
The changes wrought by menopause and andropause also can affect the sex lives of older men and women, Miller said.
"For women, vaginal dryness is a big issue. With men, it's erectile dysfunction," Miller told HealthDay Now .
Luckily, modern medicine has made advances that can help with these problems. Hormone replacement therapy can help women with the physical symptoms of menopause that interfere with sex, Miller said, and men have Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs.
"The story of Viagra is very interesting, actually," Miller said. "In 1998, they were experimenting using it as an antihypertensive . What they noticed was when they were experimenting with these men, when the nurses arrived to check on them they were all on their stomachs, because they were embarrassed since they had erections."
"That's when they realized this was a much better medicine for erectile dysfunction than high blood pressure, and that's made a big difference for men," Miller continued.
Women can take Viagra as well, "but women don't like the side effects. Men don't really like them, either, but they're willing to put up with them," Miller said.
"What I found is for women that you can use Viagra as a cream on the clitoral area," Miller said. "I call it 'scream cream.' You can get it made up at a compound pharmacy. It works like a charm. You still have to wait 40 minutes like men do, but there's no side effects, and it works, especially for women who are on antidepressants, who have trouble reaching orgasm. It really is very helpful."
So help is out there, but seniors will have to get over their hang-ups and talk to their doctor to take advantage of these options, the experts said.
"Sex and sexuality are taboo in our society," Bender said. "Especially for women, sex is highly regulated and talked about at an early age, and we're really socialized to not be sexual beings."
Miller said, "I think it's generational. Some Baby Boomers have a hard time talking about sex. My kids don't have any trouble talking about it. I bet yours don't either."
Women also face practical problems when it comes to finding a sex partner, particularly if they're looking for a man, Bender said. Women outlive men, so the dating pool shrinks as time goes on, and men tend to choose younger partners.
Through her research, Miller was surprised to learn that many women just give up on the search.
"Even though I think it's important to have a healthy sex life and healthy partnership, a lot of women don't want to reengage in partnership as they get older," Miller said. "They've been married. They've taken care of people for a very long time. They've taken care of their husbands and their children. And they just say, I don't want that anymore. I'm happy to sit and hold hands with someone, but I don't want to get into a relationship again. And so that kind of challenged some of my generational thinking about what relationships mean over time."
The Mayo Clinic has more about good sex and aging .
SOURCES: Alexis Bender, PhD, assistant professor, geriatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta; Robin Miller, MD, MHS, practicing physician, Triune Integrative Medicine, Medford, Ore.
© 2005 - 2019 WebMD LLC. All rights reserved.
WebMD does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Medically Reviewed by Nayana Ambardekar, MD on November 03, 2021
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It seems like a simple question, but scientists still can’t agree on exactly what makes up sex drive or how to measure it in men or women. While hormones play a role, it’s not always clear how much of a difference they make. But other factors -- psychological, social, and physical -- also work together to create your libido .
Testosterone, a hormone men need for sexual arousal, is typically high in your 20s, and so is your sex drive. But it’s also a time when you could be anxious about sex because of inexperience. That might be part of why 8%, and possibly more, of men in their 20s report erectile dysfunction (ED). The condition can happen because of a medical or mental health issue or even be a sign that you’re at risk for heart disease. Talk to your doctor about your symptoms.
You’re likely to be more fertile from your teens to late 20s than you are in the years that follow. This may make you choosier about if and when you have sex, though it’s not clear exactly why. In fact, scientists think that female desire might go up just as fertility starts to decline toward the end of your 20s.
Many men continue to have a strong sex drive through these years, though testosterone starts to slowly decrease around age 35. It typically goes down by about 1% per year, but it could be faster for some men. This could have some effect on your sex drive. Plus, for many men, the stress of work, family, and other commitments can affect how interested you are in sex.
This time of life may be when your sex drive is strongest. One study showed that women between 27 and 45 had more frequent and more intense sexual fantasies than younger or older women. They also had more sex and were more likely to have it sooner in a relationship.
At any age, pregnancy and childbirth have a big impact on your sex life, but it’s different for everyone. Your body and hormones change throughout pregnancy. That may mean a boost in libido at times, especially during the second trimester, and a lack of desire at others. You also may be anxious about whether it’s safe to have sex while you’re pregnant. (It usually is, but ask your doctor if you’re unsure.) Breastfeeding, raising kids, and other work can also affect the time, energy, and interest you have in sex.
If you’re in good physical and mental health, there’s no reason you shouldn’t continue to enjoy your sex life as you get older. ED does become more common as you age. Your erections may happen less often and may be less firm. But it’s not age itself that causes the problem as much as health problems that become more common with age, like heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol , and obesity, and the drugs that treat them. Your doctor can talk to you about your options for treating ED.
Around age 50, an “empty nest” or less worry about getting pregnant might make some women more interested in sex. But as you head toward menopause, estrogen levels drop, which might cool your libido down a bit and lead to vaginal dryness. Hot flashes, anxiety, weight gain, and sleep problems also can make you less in the mood. Ask your doctor about medicines, hormones, lubrication, and other treatment.
You need some testosterone to get aroused, but it’s not clear how much. It may vary from person to person. And though it’s true your levels decline with age, scientists don’t know exactly how this affects sex drive. Some men with “low” testosterone show normal sex drive, while others with high levels have sexual problems. Other medical issues, physical fitness, and mental health could be more important factors.
Talk to your doctor about any issues with your sex drive, as they could be a sign of a medical condition. If your physical response is the problem, your doctor may prescribe hormones that can increase overall sex drive (estrogen for women, testosterone for men), or drugs that boost sexual arousal: sildenafil (Viagra) and tadalafil (Cialis) for men, and bremelanotide (Vyleesi) andflibanserin (Addyi) for women.
Ask your partner about their needs and desires, and talk about yours, too. Don’t be afraid to try new things as your bodies evolve and your stage of life changes. This can help keep you and your partner engaged and interested in sex. Be honest about your physical and emotional satisfaction. It might even be a good idea to set aside certain times to be intimate.
Edward O. Laumann, PhD, University of Chicago department of sociology.
American Family Physician : “Diagnosis and Treatment of Atrophic Vaginitis.”
American Psychological Association: “Stress effects on the body.”
American Sexual Health Association: “Sex After 50.”
Bailliere’s Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology: “Sexual behaviour in pregnancy, after childbirth and during breast-feeding.”
Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings : “Diagnosing and managing low serum testosterone.”
Harvard Health Publishing: “Recharge your sexual energy,” “Attitudes about sexuality and aging."
Hormones and Behavior : “Lower sexual interest in postpartum women: relationship to amygdala activation and intranasal oxytocin.”
Cleveland Clinic: “Vaginal Atrophy: Management and Treatment,” “Menopause & Sex.”
Journal of Sexual Medicine: “Female Sexual Function during Pregnancy and after Childbirth.”
Mayo Clinic: “Vaginal atrophy,” “Erectile dysfunction,” “Low sex drive in women,” “Is there an equivalent of Viagra for women?” “Sexual health and aging: Keep the passion alive.”
Merck Manual : “Erectile Dysfunction (ED),” “Decreased Libido in Men.”
National Coalition for Sexual Health: “Sexual Health in Your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s & Beyond.”
National Institute on Aging: “Sexuality in Later Life.”
National Institutes of Health: “Understanding How Testosterone Affects Men.”
PLoS One: “A Validated Age-Related Normative Model for Male Total Testosterone Shows Increasing Variance but No Decline after Age 40 Years.”
Urologists.org: “Men's Sexual Health by Decade.”
The North American Menopause Society: “Decreased Desire.”
The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality: “Is there an early-30s peak in female sexual desire? Cross-sectional evidence from the United States and Canada.”
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism: “The Relationship between Libido and Testosterone Levels in Aging Men.”
Translational Andrology and Urology : “Erectile dysfunction in fit and healthy young men: psychological or pathological?”
University of Washington Medicine: “Is Your Sex Drive Normal? Probably.”
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: “Having a Baby After Age 35: How Aging Affects Fertility and Pregnancy.”
March of Dimes: “Sex during pregnancy.”
© 2005 - 2022 WebMD LLC. All rights reserved.
WebMD does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

10:00PM Friday, September 23rd, 2022

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