he importance of a good sex life in later life
|
Anything else you wanted to know about sex?
In October laterlife healthwise column, Helen Franks talked about Erectile Dysfunction. This month,
resident counsellor Maggi Stamp tells the story of a couple whose marriage ended through
differing sexual needs. We continue the theme here with a survey on Sexual Habits
and Well being. |
Sex is good
for you!
As human
beings our sexuality is inextricably linked to our overall health, happiness, and sense of
wellness.
Satisfaction
with sexual life has been shown to be an important predictor of satisfaction with life as
a whole.
Mortality
risk is 50% lower in men with high orgasmic frequency than in men with low orgasmic
frequency.
How
important is sex?
More than 80%
of men and over 60% of women aged 40-80 years say sex is an important part of their
overall lives.
More than
half of both men and women disagree with the statement "older people no longer want
sex".
Physical
satisfaction in a relationship is higher amongst those people who report that they are
healthier – nearly 70% of people who describe their health as ‘excellent’
also report their physical relationship with their partner to be very/extremely
pleasurable in the past year.
How often do
people have sex?
-
82% of men
and 64% of women reported having intercourse in the last 12 months. Of these: 59% of
men and 53% women in the UK have sex regularly (at least one to six times per week)
Despite the
importance of sexual relations to men and women, erectile dysfunction often goes untreated
because people are reluctant to talk to their doctor.
Doctors do
not raise the subject of sexual difficulties with their patients – Worldwide only 9%
of men or women report being asked by their doctor about sexual difficulties in the last
three years and this figure decreases to only 4% in the UK.
Erectile
Dysfunction (ED)
Definition
Erectile
dysfunction (ED), often known as impotence, is defined as the inability to achieve and/or
maintain an erection sufficient for satisfactory sexual activity.
How many men
suffer from ED?
Over three
million men suffer from erection problems in the UK, and over 140 million men
worldwide.
ED is one of
the most common male sexual problems and becomes progressively more prevalent as men get
older.
What causes
ED?
ED is
primarily caused by physical conditions not psychological factors.
ED has been
associated with cardiovascular disease, diabetes and depression.
It is
estimated that between 39% and 64% of men with cardiovascular disease suffer from ED.
Over 50% of
men with diabetes suffer from ED some of the time and as many as 39% suffer from ED all
the time.
The
probability of a man with severe depression having moderate to mild ED is early 90%.
How does ED
affect men’s quality of life?
Two-thirds of
men with ED say that their ED makes them feel worried and anxious (65%) and makes them
lack confidence.
Over half
(56%) of men with ED say their ED makes them feel depressed.
Nearly a
quarter of men (24%) say that their ED makes them feel unattractive.
How does the
partner feel?
Over 60% of
men with ED say that their partners have negative emotions towards the condition.
Whereas over
80% of men with ED describe their partners as being supportive (84%) and sympathetic (86%)
to their erection problems, they also describe partners as angry (45%) and feeling
unattractive (56%).
How does ED
effect the relationship overall?
The emotional
and mental stress caused by erection problems can mean that men avoid intimate situations
with a partner.
80% of men
with ED experience some form of relationship difficulty because of their condition.
One in ten
say that they stopped forming relationships as a result of their ED.
How long do
men suffer in silence?
Less than a
third of men with erection problems have summoned the courage to ask for medical help.
On average it
can take a man with ED 28 months before he even starts to do anything about the problem.
ED is a
medical condition and a serious health issue.
Nearly 90% of
those men with ED who were treated successfully, said it improved their life.
|
|
| laterlife interest
The above article is part of the features section of laterlife.com called
laterlife interest.
laterlife interest contains a variety of articles of
interest for visitors to laterlife.com written by a number of experienced and new
journalists.
It includes both one off
articles and also regular columns of a more specialist nature such as healthwise, reports from the REACH files,
and a beauty section called looking good in later life.
Also don't forget to
take a look at our regular IT question and answer section called YoucandoIT by IT trainer and author Jackie
Sherman.
To view the latest articles and
indexes to previous articles click on laterlife
interest here or above. To search for articles about a certain topic, use the
site search feature below.
|
|
|
|
|
| 
