USA: Seniors simulating sexual acts sparks shock from consumers

LONDON, England / The Daily Mail / April 13, 2012

A shock tactic gone too far? New ad features senior citizens simulating sex positions to promote use of condoms

By Kristie Lau

Too much? An ad campaign showing senior citizens in a series of 
different sexual positions has sparked shock among consumers

An advertisement featuring senior citizens simulating sexual acts has sparked shock from consumers. The video campaign, released by U.S. organisation SaferSex4Seniors.org, is designed to promote safe sex through use of condoms following news that STDs among sexually-active seniors in Florida had risen by 71per cent over the past five years.

But many believe the group, while promoting a worthy cause, has taken shock tactics too far. The 30-second video, released on YouTube today, shows a group of elderly men and women mocking the performance of fellatio as well as other challenging sexual positions.

In one scene, a particularly strong man is holding a woman who is standing upside down on her elbows. Deadpan expressions are shown on their faces.

Read full report

Associated Newspapers Ltd

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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights. 
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

CAMBODIA: Massaging back your sex life

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia / The Phnom Penh Post / Lifestyle / February 8, 2012

By Roth Meas


Many people have a regular massage to stay healthy, or use a massage therapist after an injury suffered while playing sport, for example.


But even in the age of Viagra, most people would be reticent about advertising the fact they are going for a massage in order to improve their sexual performance. 

Ahmad Noor Mohamad Haidar, 70, has been quietly massaging customers to treat their sexual issues for some time.

Health Practitioner Ahmad Noor Mohamad
Haidar, 70, holds up one of the
ingredients for  his traditional medicine.

He claims he knows how to massage clients in order to improve the performance of their sexual organs.

He reckons people all over the world, including Cambodia, have sexual problems and decided to come to Phnom Penh to join his daughter after she opened the Malaysia restaurant. 

“Both men and women always lose their sex capacity at the age of 40. Men become weak and inactive, while women get dry,’’ Ahmad says. 

“But they both still have passion. Their problem is that their sperm or vaginal discharge has run out. So their reproductive parts are dead.” 

Ahmad says there are three types of sexual intercourse: sex for death, for health and for strength.

He says sex for death is when people have sex just for satisfaction. When people have sex for health, they have just enough intercourse for their sweat or toxins to come out, then they stop. 

It’s like doing exercise, so they rarely achieve satisfaction, he says.

Sex for strength is when people aim to improve the performance of their sexual organs. 

It’s like training them so they last longer.   

“Most people and animals choose the first sort, sex for death. They want to reach a comfortable feeling until climax,” Ahmad says.

“This is the problem that causes their reproductive parts to decline . . .  you know, when their sperm or vaginal discharge comes out one time, it’s equal to the nutrition they receive from food for 20 days.

“So in the next 20 years, their reproductive parts will be dead.”   

Ahmad believes everybody can protect their reproductive parts by conserving their semen or vaginal discharge. 

“If you can control their sperm or vaginal discharge, then at the age of 60 their reproductive parts will still work,” he says. 

“Everybody is concerned about their reproductive parts. They think it’s important for their life. That’s why we massage on that area. The massage can revive it.” 

Ahmad doesn’t just do massage alone, but he also makes coffee with a mix of his traditional medicines to improve sexual capacity.

He mixes coffee and medicine together. Pha Lina

He says most of his Cambodian clients are around 50 years old. 

Compared with when he operated in Malaysia, the numbers are still small, so every month he returns to his home country to see clients.  

Sandap Seepakdy, 43, the director of International Invision, a business consulting company, has been seeing Ahmad for 10 years.

She didn’t have any sexual problems, but her husband did. 

She said her husband used Viagra quite often, but had a problem with ejaculation, so Sandap sent him to try a massage with Ahmed. 

“He was a bit shy at the beginning, but decided to give it a try,’’ she says.

“He didn’t just get a massage; he also drank some traditional medicine to help revive his capacity.

“From then on, he has wanted to have sex. Nowadays, he doesn’t have a problem any more, and he is 60  now. But when I was 40 I had problems. I felt dry, so I let him massage me one time every month. I feel OK now.”

Sandap adds: “He doesn’t just massage our reproductive parts but also on my legs, arms, and back. He is honest with us and respects us. He doesn’t cheat us.”

Sandap believes nobody  wants their reproductive parts to stop working and really need such treatment.

So she has tried to learn  massage from Ahmad. She expects Cambodian women, who are normally shy, will let her do it for them.  

Health Minister Mam Bunheng says the ministry has never had a policy of giving licences to any company offering medicines for improving sexual capacity.

He says Cambodians have always used traditional medicines, but only for the treatment of diseases, not for sexual problems.

Copyright © 2012 The Phnom Penh Post
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights. 
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

USA: Budget includes pitch for aging offender facility

ATLANTA / Associated Press / January 18, 2012

Tucked into the $1 billion midyear budget proposal for the corrections department is a novel pitch to convert a shuttered state facility into a nursing home that would house some elderly sex offenders.

Corrections Commissioner Brian Owens said Wednesday that Gov. Nathan Deal's budget proposal calls for $6 million to transform the facility at Bostick State Prison in Milledgeville into a 150-bed nursing home for "medically fragile" inmates.

Owens said sex offenders are expensive as they grow older and nursing homes usually won't admit them.

He said Georgia's pardons board could grant a medical reprieve to some elderly sex offenders and then transfer them to this facility. Owens said the medical provider contracted to the facility would then use Medicaid funding rather than state corrections money to provide care.

Copyright The Associated Press

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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights. 
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

KOREA: Sex matters for elderly wellbeing

SEOUL, Korea / The Korea Herald / National News / January 8, 2012

Education and interest necessary to help them lead an active, healthy life


A man in his 70s recently called up the hotline for the elderly in need of sex consultation at the Planned Population Federation of Korea. He was frustrated with his inability to make love to his wife. 

“Over the past seven or eight years, she has refused any sexual intercourse. Whenever I feel the urge, all I can do is masturbate,” he told the counselor, adding that he feels miserable with sexless life.

Another 75-year-old man said he had lived with a woman after his wife died but he and the woman had since separated. 

“It was great stress and I suffered from depression. The thing is, I still prefer living with a woman to living with children,” he said. 

Is aging the end of one’s sex life? Can older generations enjoy sex like younger people?

In theory, yes. In reality, probably not. 

According to a Ministry of Health and Welfare survey of 436 men and 64 women over the age of 65, they were as active and interested in sex as younger generations. Of them, 66.2 percent said they have an active sex life, 19.6 percent of those sexually active seniors said they used sex toys or aids, and 50.8 percent said they take pills to achieve erections. 

“It is very natural for the elderly to be sexually active,” said Rim Choon-seek, a Hannam University professor and author of “Sex Never Gets Old.”

“When a man becomes old and is left in an empty nest only with his wife or only with his child or children, he usually becomes driven by a strong desire to be loved by his partner. But his children or younger people around him would advise them to remain abstinent, citing old age,” he said, “That kills him.”

Rim pointed an accusing finger at younger people who tend to downplay the value of sex for the silver generation.

Experts say that sex is linked to the wellbeing of senior citizens.

According to Professor Adrienne Jackson of Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University, the more often older married individuals engage in sexual activity, the more likely they are to be happy with both their lives and marriages. Of those who had sex twice or more a month on average over the past year, 80 percent said they were very satisfied with their marriage. Of those who had no sex, only 40 percent said they were generally happy.

Especially for widows, solitude feels deeper and is more detrimental to their lives as a whole. When seniors’ sexual desires are disregarded, their pent-up frustration could lead to problems with prostitution and sexually transmitted diseases.

According to a survey of 1,000 65-year-olds conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in 2009, 16.2 percent had bought sex in the previous two years. The majority of them bought it five times or less, and 26 percent six to 10 times. Those who bought sex said they had no other choice.

Prostitution is linked to venereal diseases. Last year, the National Health Insurance Corp. reported that the number of elderly people who visited hospitals with STDs increased from 10,713 in 2006 to 17,265 in 2010. Most of them had syphilis, herpes or giardiasis.

“Sex education is necessary for the elderly,” Dr. Lee Seok-young of Ilsan Hospital said.

He said that their world is changing. Those with an open mind on sex are increasing in number, while innovative drugs to treat impotence are coming out. Older men are exposed to an environment which enables and also fosters an active sex life.

“In this situation, it is important to teach them safe sex rather than to show an attitude of indifference,” Lee said.

According to the National Police Agency, 423 sexual assaults were committed by the elderly in 2006, up from 100 in 1994.

“We should induce them into venting their sex drive legally and in a healthy manner,” Prof. Chae Kyu-man of Sungshin Women’s University told a local daily.

Rim suggested government-arranged blind dates for elderly singles or widows as a way to help them have healthy relationships.

“In Florida, there is a block for elderly people. There they enjoy lives together, dining, dancing and singing. Then they go back home happy. The local administration, well-aware of their votes, never stops holding such fun events. Korea needs that kind of service,” he said.

The welfare ministry said it will publish a guidebook on senior sex and provide therapy for elderly couples. The authorities are also planning to throw matchmaking parties and other events for elder singles.

“Korea is rapidly becoming an aging society and is expected to become an aged society within six years. We have to think now about what we can do for the elderly people’s wellbeing,” Hwang Seung-hyun, a ministry official, said. “Their desires are natural so they should not be ignored nor treated as a trifling issue.”

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldm.com)

COPYRIGHT 2001 ~ 2010 HERALD MEDIA INC 
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Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

USA: Frank talk about sex and seniors

STATEN ISLAND, New York / SiLive.com / January 1, 2012

As We Are
By Bea Victor


In November of 1987, I wrote a column headlined: “The secret’s finally out: Sex does not end at 60.” 

Checking my computer the other day, I noted that there are endless references to that same subject, indicating many more studies that have been done. So I will repeat that column for the newer readers. 

“Do you think an article about sexuality in older people would be interesting?” I asked my friend. 

“Oh boy,” she responded. “I would stay away from that topic.” 

“Why?” I wanted to know. 

I was not planning to describe the sexual act, although I don’t know why even that would be inappropriate. 

Goodness knows, sexual activity of young people has been described openly in magazines and displayed with more and more explicitness in our movies and on television. 

SHARING INFORMATION

I simply want to share some of the information that has become available to me. 

I am intrigued, that in this age of sexual frankness, where the condom is part of everyday conversation, where advertisements are visible and vocal about douches, deodorant, underclothing and mouthwash, where some of the best selling novels are so explicit it’s amazing the books don’t come with asbestos gloves, where single parenthood is acceptable and where “living together” holds no stigma, that a discussion of sexuality in the older person should be carefully considered for fear of offending. 

For some years now, older single persons have been getting together with or without marriage to satisfy financial and emotional needs, including sex. 

If you are a television buff, as I am, perhaps you have become aware of the increased focus on sexuality in programs involving older characters. 

In the past, any sign of sexuality concerning the elderly on television was usually a medium for ridicule. 

The image was one of the “dirty old man” and the undesirable and non-sexual older woman. 

Now we are shown a widower attracted to women, older men marrying young women, senior ladies pining and vying for men and some very tender love scenes between older men and women. 

It appears that it is a myth that sex automatically ends at some magical age like 60, or with the death of a spouse. 

This may come as a shock to some who believe that older people do not or should not desire sex. 

AGE IS NO BARRIER

What appears to be nearer to the truth is that age has nothing to do with the needs all humans have — for warmth, affection, love and the human touch. (Have you hugged your wife or husband lately?) 

Much has been written about the sexual revolution, starting with Raymond Pearl in 1926, continuing throughout the years, including the Kinsey report indicating that older people are and have always been sexually active. 

For some people, “the fantasy of the sexual senior which they had when they were young became the blueprint for their own aging, a classical case of bewitchment by expectation” according to “A Good Age,” by Alex Comfort. 

Assuming the above, so what? Sure, there are those who really do not enjoy sex. They are happy to see an end to it. They do not want to be liberated now that it is the “in” thing for seniors. 

They resent those whom they feel are pressuring them to indulge. Thank goodness they have the privilege of choice and are respected for their point of view, says “To Your Good Health,” by Robert J. Skeist. 

Others, however, remind one of what the sculptor Rodin said: “I did not know that I could scorn women at 20 and be charmed by them at 70.” 

Seniors are simply continuing a healthy relationship in which sex plays an important part in the expression of affection and communication. They say it helps them feel good, alive, desirable and worthy. 

Dr. Domeena Renshaw of Loyola University Sexual Dysfunction Clinic says, “Sex is our body’s natural tranquilizer. It releases tension and helps relieve frustration, hostility and depression.” 

Some clinicians note that the majority of people who cease sexual activity are women. The reason usually is widowhood. 

Many writers agree, however, that the pain and difficulty of losing a husband need not prevent a woman from finding sexual satisfaction. 

Their recommendations include not only remarriage, but affairs with older or younger men, loving relationships with women and masturbation. 

(Suggestions which, if even thought about when I was younger, would make the heavens open and lightening strike.) 

The changes in sexual activity between aging partners can be compared to the changes in any physical involvement. There is a slowing down, not a cessation. 

Instead of the impetuosity of youth, there is more appreciation of touching, holding, kissing and “making love.” Perhaps this is something to be envied. 

© 2011 SILive.com
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights. 
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

GERMANY: At 69, he gets 32-month jail for three decades of incest

DUBAI, UAE / Emirates24/7 / Agence France Presse / December 19, 2011

Defendant Adolf B. arrives at court in Nuremberg, southern Germany.
The German pensioner accused of raping his daughter repeatedly

over a 34-year-period and fathering three children with her. (AFP)

A German court on Monday jailed a pensioner for two years and eight months for having sex with his daughter over three decades, but threw out charges he repeatedly raped her.

Sexual relations between 69-year-old Adolf Bergbauer and his now 46-year-old daughter had been consensual, the court in the southern German city of Nuremberg ruled.

But it sentenced him to the jail term for incest and coercion.

Bergbauer had been charged with nearly 500 counts of rape, but while he admitted sex with his daughter in testimony before the court, he denied he raped her, saying she had consented.

Prosecutors however said he started to rape his daughter when she was 12, fathering three children with her, and had demanded 14 years behind bars for the defendant. They said they would consider an appeal.

Judge Guenther Heydner said the court had not been able to conclude that the daughter was forced into sexual relations through violence.

"With testimony which changed in key aspects from charge to charge, we could not establish proof," he said.

Bergbauer, who is illiterate and used to work as an occasional labourer, claimed the first sexual contact took place when she was 17. "She was a willing participant," he insisted.

He said they had consensual sex around twice a week.

However, according to prosecutors, the daughter said he raped her in her parents' bedroom, in her own room and later in the woods in the back of his car.

She also said he forced her into sex at knife-point, which Bergbauer strenuously denied.

Of the three sons born as a result, two died and the other is handicapped.

Copyright © 2011. Dubai Media Incorporated.

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Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

ASIA: Indonesian men top latest "Ideal Sex in Asia Survey"

BANGKOK, Thailand / The Nation / Survey / November 25, 2011

Indonesian men top the list when it comes to frequency of sexual intercourse, according to a survey conducted among sexuallyactive people in 10 Asian territories.

Conducted by Pfizer, the latest "Ideal Sex in Asia Survey" found Indonesian men had sex 9.8 times each month on average. Coming in second were Filipino men, who had sex 9.4 times a month, while Indian men averaged 8.8 times each month.

As for Thai men, they had sex about 7.7 times in one month.

The findings of the survey were released at a Bangkok hotel yesterday. The survey covered 1,658 men and 1,624 women in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. All respondents were between 31 and 74 years old, and had sexual intercourse in the past 12 months.

As for female respondents, Indian women reported the highest frequency of sexual intercourse at 8.7 times each month on average. Coming in next were Indonesian and Malaysian women, both having sex about 6.8 times in a month.

Thai women had sex just 5.7 times in one month, according to the survey.

Assoc Prof Dr George Lee, consultant urological surgeon at Monash University in Kuala Lumpur, said the survey found erection hardness remained a key factor for sex satisfaction among most Asians.

"For example, up to 90 per cent of Malaysian men have listed this factor as important," he said.

Only onethird of the respondents felt that sexualintercourse duration as an important factor when it came to satisfaction.

Asst Prof Dr Pansak Sugkraroek, a wellknown sexual health expert and obgyn doctor in Thailand, said it was estimated that some 2.7 million Thai men had erectile dysfunction (ED).

"Only 27,000 have come forward to seek treatment though," he said.

Pansak said apart from medicines, the change in lifestyle could also help combat against ED.

"Regular exercise and healthy food are also recommended," he said

(c) 2007 www.nationmultimedia.com
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USA: Sex a Significant Predictor of Happiness Among Married Seniors

WASHINGTON, DC / Gerontological Society of America / News / November 20, 2011

The more often older married individuals engage in sexual activity, the more likely they are to be happy with both their lives and marriages, according to new research presented in Boston at the Gerontological Society of America's (GSA) 64th Annual Scientific Meeting.

This finding is based on the 2004–2008 General Social Surveys, a public opinion poll conducted on a nationally representative sample of non-institutionalized English and Spanish-speaking person 18 years of age or older living in the U.S. The data analysis was conducted by Adrienne Jackson, PT, PhD, MPA, an assistant professor at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. Illustrative photo courtesy: goldagers.com

“This study will help open the lines of communication and spark interest in developing ‘outside the box’ approaches to dealing with resolvable issues that limit or prevent older adults from participating in sexual activity,” said Jackson. “Highlighting the relationship between sex and happiness will help us in developing and organizing specific sexual health interventions for this growing segment of our population.”

Based on the survey responses of 238 married individuals age 65 years or older, Jackson discovered that frequency of sexual activity was a significant predictor of both general and marital happiness. The association even remained after accounting for factors such as age, gender, health status, and satisfaction with financial situation.

Whereas only 40 percent of individuals who reported no sexual activity in the last 12 months said they were very happy with life in general, almost 60 percent who engaged in sexual activity more than once a month said they were very happy. Similarly, while about 59 percent of individuals who reported no sexual activity in the last 12 months said they were very happy with their marriage, almost 80 percent who had sex more than once a month said they were very happy. To assess frequency of sexual activity, respondents were asked the following question: “About how many times did you have sex during the last 12 months? By ‘sex’ we mean vaginal, oral, or anal sex.” To assess general happiness, respondents were asked the following question: “Taken all together, how would you say things are these days — would you say that you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?” To assess marital happiness, respondents were asked the following question: “Taking things all together, how would you describe your marriage? Would you say that your marriage is very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?”

GSA’s meeting — the country’s largest interdisciplinary conference in the field of aging — is taking place at the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center and Sheraton Boston Hotel from November 18 to 22. An estimated 3,500 professionals are expected to attend and the program schedule contains more than 500 scientific sessions featuring research presented for the first time. Jackson’s presentation is on “Exploring the Relationship Between Frequency of Sexual Activity and Happiness Among Older Married Americans.”

Copyright 2008 © GSA

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Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

INDIA: Where's the Kama Sutra for the Elderly?

MUMBAI, Maharashtra / Daily News & Analysis / Lifestyle / November 13, 2011

Thinkstock

We need to set up sex-coaching classes for the benefit of senior citizens who have taken retirement from such activity and tend to mistake enforced celibacy for spiritual pursuit, writes Dilip Raote

By Dilip Raote

My favourite sexually active senior is French writer Victor Hugo. He was so prolific that he was called ‘Nine-times-a-night’ Hugo.

When he was in his 80s and making love to a housemaid, his grandson walked in. Hugo greeted him and said, “That’s what they call genius.”

Hugo was popular with the prostitutes of Paris. When he died the government gave the prostitutes a paid holiday so that they could attend his funeral. When Hugo was so busy horizontally, how did he get time to sit erect and write his many books? Hugo has given me aspirations for my 80s. I hope I have a grandson by then.

Not all seniors are so active, of course. One asked for 12 condoms at a pharmacy. The pharmacist was curious. “Why 12?” he said. The customer said, “One for January, one for February, one for ….” Another complained to his doctor that when he had sex he felt very hot or very cold. “Before you answer him, doctor,” the patient’s wife intervened, “let me tell you that we have sex once in May and once in December.”

Doing it still
Poor women! How bored they must be. The men would be so dull, so devoid of mischief and laughter that lead to a hug and kiss … and Ooh! Aaaah! The men would definitely be couch potatoes watching cricket on TV. Or blah-blahing about the good old days, like George Bernard Shaw. Shaw was once entertaining a guest with witty anecdotes. Shaw’s wife was sitting nearby and knitting. When Shaw left the room for a moment, the guest asked Mrs Shaw what she was knitting. “Nothing,” she said. “If I didn’t keep my hands busy I would strangle him. I have heard all those stories at least 500 times.”

Then there are women who are so cold they put their husbands in deep freeze. If they are not enterprising enough to have affairs, the husbands descend into compulsory celibacy and call it spiritual pursuit. So there are lots of lewd monks who assess middle-aged women in terms of possibilities, but don’t have the courage to go beyond that.

Fortunately, there is now a revival of the trend of elderly widows and widowers marrying or forming live-in relationships. 

Recently I was reading dame Edith Sitwell’s book, The English Eccentrics. One chapter was about eccentric centenarians. One man married at age 120 and had a child. He died on November 15, 1635 at age 152. Then I saw a newspaper report about an Assamese man aged 120 who married a 60-year-old woman. The man wanted a companion to share his social work. Damn good! They may even produce babies.

But my favourite eccentric in Sitwell’s book is Countess of Desmond. She died in 1732 at age 140 when she fell from an apple tree. Climbing a tree at 140! I’d love to marry such an energetic woman when I am 120. What fun we will have in bed! Edith Sitwell, who died in 1964 at age 77, was herself an adorable eccentric and features in The World’s Greatest Cranks & Crackpots by Margaret Nicholas. Her flat on the fourth floor of a building in London was a literary ‘adda’ which attracted famous names like Aldous Huxley, Virginia Woolf, TS Eliot and Dylan Thomas.

Now there are many organisations in India which are reactivating the elderly by bringing them into social work. This togetherness may be promoting affairs, marriages, or live-in relationships among the oldies. But I have not heard of sex-coaching classes for seniors, especially those who’ve taken voluntary retirement from such activity. They’ve been there and done it and are not interested any more. Such bored seniors need to be re-educated so that they become lively again.

Reactivating the elderly
What we need is a ‘Kamasutra for the Elderly’, a how-to guide for intellectual pleasure and physical fun. Then there will be a revival of interest in the erotic sculptures of Ellora, Konark and Khajuraho.

These sculptures should be available in miniature form so that they can be given as gifts and installed in the bedrooms of seniors, along with religious icons. In India, sex and spiritualism are related, the best representation of it being Lord Shiva’s linga rising out of Parvati’s yoni. It is possible that Indians invented the exclamation uttered in bedrooms across the world: “Oh God, I am coming!” Then came the prudery of the British who converted sex into sin during their 200-year rule. Since their departure, films, TV, internet and advertising have made sex a public business again.

Seniors have to rethink sex. A good beginner’s guide is American Dr Patricia Bloom’s essay, ‘Sex in the Elderly’, which you’ll find online if you Google it. She says that in America 87% of married men and 89% of married women (aged 60-64) are sexually active. For those over age 80, the statistics are 29% and 25%. “Older age is a time of freedom to explore sexual expression in ways never before realised…Sexual activity can be physically, intellectually and even spiritually fulfilling. It is often a good form of exercise and it can stimulate the brain.” Senior citizens’ organisations should start elementary and advanced sex courses. Perhaps I could be invited as a guest lecturer.

In the coming decades, there will be a hilarious other side to elderly romance. When youngsters find that their space in Chowpatty, Nariman Point, and Shivaji Park is taken over by necking elders, they will moralise: “What is the world coming to! Oldies are so debauched now!” Hee-hee, or Hoho!

diplowlife@gmail.com

©2011 Diligent Media Corporation Ltd.
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Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

USA: Seniors need sex ed to encourage and adjust

SEATTLE, Wa / The Seattle Times / Health / November 1, 2011

By Kim Lamb Gregory
Scripps Howard News Service

Senior sex expert Joan Price challenges anybody who cringes at the idea of older adults having sex.

"If I encounter the 'ick' factor, my response is always: 'At what age do you plan to retire YOUR genitals?'" said Price, who turns 68 in November.

One of the primary myths Price wants to shatter is the idea that seniors have lost interest in sex. Seniors are interested and need more information about how to enjoy it with their changing bodies, she said.

"It is harder for seniors to find sexual information related to them than it is for 10-year-olds," Price said. "I take an activist stand that we do need more sexual information for seniors."

Statistics support Price's contention that older adults have not given up on sex. A comprehensive national survey of senior sexual attitudes, behaviors and problems was conducted in 2005 and 2006 by the National Opinion Research Center along with principal investigators at the University of Chicago. More than 3,000 interviews of adults age 57 to 85 showed seniors believe sexuality is an important part of life.

Results from the university's National Social Life, Health and Aging Project, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed older adults participated well into their 70s and 80s.

"The ick factor is where people go: 'Eww! Old wrinkly people having sex? Yech!'" Price said.

That's changing, partly because of the large number of baby boomers hitting their senior years, but there's still a long way to go, Price said.

"Thinking only young bodies are sexy is something we've been taught by our youth-oriented culture, and we don't need to keep accepting it," she said.

AARP relationship expert Pepper Schwartz thinks technology and culture also are influencing attitudes about sex and seniors.

"Technology has allowed people to look younger longer. New hips and knees. It helps people feel better about themselves," she said. "There's online dating. It's helping people find partners. It's one thing to want to be sexual. It's another thing to find a partner."

The University of Chicago study showed that overall health was much more important than age when it came to sexual activity. As health declined after the early 70s, so did sexual activity. Of those who remained sexually active, nearly half reported a sexual problem.

Lack of desire was a problem for 43 percent of women, with 39 percent reporting vaginal dryness. Thirty-seven percent of men reported erectile dysfunction. Thirty-eight percent of men and 20 percent of women had discussed their sexual problems with a doctor.

Price said she's trying to offer information in her books, including 2006's "Better Than I Expected: Straight Talk About Sex After Sixty" and this year's "Naked at Our Age: Talking Out Loud About Senior Sex," both from Seal Press.

Price's unlikely career in senior sex was the result of two automobile accidents spaced 16 years apart near her home in Sebastopol, Calif., about 50 miles north of San Francisco. The former English teacher realized her dedication to exercise and movement helped her heal, she said.

The joys of physical movement led her to teach a line-dancing class. About 10 years ago, she was teaching a line-dancing class and a 64-year-old man walked in.

He "turned out to become my great love," Price said, noting they didn't kiss for nine months. "But after that, there was no stopping us. Neither of us had any idea sex could be so good."

(ContactKimLambGregoryoftheVenturaCountyStarinCaliforniaatwww.vcstar.com)

Copyright ©2011 The Seattle Times Company
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Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

JAPAN: Japan's Booming Sex Niche: Elder Porn

FRESNO, California / KSee24 / News / October 17, 2011

(TIME)  Besides his glowing complexion, Shigeo Tokuda looks like any other 74-year-old man in Japan. Despite suffering a heart attack three years ago, the lifelong salaryman now feels healthier, and lives happily with his wife and a daughter in downtown Tokyo. He is, of course, more physically active than most retirees, but that's because he's kept his part-time job — as a porn star.


Shigeo Tokuda is, in fact, his screen name. He prefers not to disclose his real name because, he insists, his wife and daughter have no idea that he has appeared in about 350 films over the past 14 years. And in his double life, Tokuda arguably embodies the contemporary state of Japan's sexuality: in surveys conducted by organizations ranging from the World Health Organization (WHO) to the condom-maker Durex, Japan is repeatedly found to be one of the most sexless societies in the industrialized world.


For more on this story, click here

© 2011 Time Inc.
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights.
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

KOREA: Number of sexual assaults by elderly up

SEOUL, Korea / The Korea Times / News / September 22, 2011

By Lee Hyo-sik

A growing number of male senior citizens here are found to have committed sexual assaults, particularly against minors.

According to the data submitted by the National Police Agency to Rep. Kim Tae-won of the Grand National Party (GNP), Thursday, the number of sexual assaults perpetrated by those aged over 65 jumped 32.5 percent to 925 in 2010 from 698 a year earlier.

``We used to think that crime rates among the elderly would be lower than other age brackets. But such stereotypes can’t even be called a stereotype. More and more senior citizens have become a perpetrator of rape and other sex crimes in recent years reflecting Korea’s rapidly aging population,’’ Rep. Kim said.
Illustration by courtesy of societyinkorea


On Sept. 14, an 81-year-old man was sentenced to imprisonment for three years and six month for sexually molesting a six-year-old girl in Busan in April. He was also ordered to wear an electronic anklet for six years after he is released from prison.

In June, a 71-year-old man was also put behind bars for 11 years for raping a mentally-disabled 12-year-old girl in the southeastern port city.

``More senior citizens have committed not only sexual assaults, but also murders and other brutal crimes. To rein in such offenses, the society should introduce a whole new set of crime prevention measures. We also need to pay more attention to improving the livelihoods of the elderly,’’ the GNP lawmaker said.

Crimes committed by senior citizens totaled 136,238 in 2010 across the country, up 34.6 percent from 101,225 in 2006.

By category, violence topped the list, followed by theft, sexual assault, murder and burglary.

By municipality, the largest number of crimes was committed in Seoul, followed by Gyeonggi Province, Busan, North Gyeongsang Province and South Gyeongsang Province.

Lee Hyo-sik
E-Mail: leehs@koreatimes.co.kr

Copyright: koreatimes.co.kr
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights.
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

USA: How To Talk To Grandma About Sex

MIAMI, Florida / HealthyState.Org / Wellness / September 20, 2011

By Sammy Mack

Let’s face it: talking about sex can be really awkward.

Talking about sex with your grandparents?

Super awkward. But also important, according to the Florida Department of Health.

This week marks the fourth annual National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day. And the FDOH is using it as a reminder that HIV doesn’t have an age limit. In 2009, a fifth of HIV cases and a quarter of new AIDS cases were in people over the age of 50. The state projects that by 2015, most HIV/AIDS cases will be found among people 50 years old and over.

Part of the graying of AIDS is because people are living longer with better medications to treat the virus. Part of it also has to do with older people staying sexually active longer – thanks to medications like Viagra and Cialis.

Public health officials think younger people can be an important part of preventing the virus in older people. We sat down with Marlene LaLota, HIV prevention director in the FDOH Bureau of HIV/AIDS, to get tips on how to have “the talk” with the older people in our social networks.

Birds do it. Bees do it. Florida retirees do it. (Ambro / freedigitalphotos.net)

HS: How do you start that conversation?

LaLota: Well those are not easy conversations to have, particularly with older people because what works with one older person is not going to work with another older person.

Let me give you an example: in some families, a younger child – perhaps a teenager, a twenty-year-old – can have the conversation with their grandmother. Maybe the grandmother has lost her spouse and she’s ready to get back into the dating world. You could see where somebody who’s new to the dating scene versus somebody who is re-visiting the dating scene might have something in common. So that may be common ground to talk about: What is dating like for you? What was it like when you were my age? Here’s what it’s like now. There are things you need to know. The world has changed in the past 50 years. So that may be an appropriate strategy for some families.

In other cases, that conversation absolutely would not happen. The older person is not going to talk to their family members or to younger people about what they consider to be intensely private issues. So what we do is we try to use older people as peers to kind of reach other folks who may be reluctant to talk about this.

How do you know when it’s time to have that conversation?

Honestly, sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you just sort of guess. Sometimes if there’s an older person in your life who’s new to the dating scene, that’s the time to have it.

It may be a simple act of a daughter who lovingly takes a condom in a compact and slips it in her mom’s purse and kind of makes a joke about it. Just in case, mom.

Whatever it takes to break the ice. It’s going to be embarrassing. Remember the roles were reversed once upon a time – where it was the mother having the conversation with the daughter 30 or 40 years ago.

It does turn that relationship on its ear. Are there differences in talking to an older adult as opposed to having “the talk” about HIV and aids with a teenager?

Absolutely, there definitely are differences. The first thing a young girl is going to think about is pregnancy. They’re not always thinking disease. That’s similar to older people.

But with older people, they’re not thinking about pregnancy or disease. They’re thinking they don’t have anything to worry about. Why do I need to use protection? I’m certainly not going to get pregnant. -Or- Oh, he’s an older man, he’s not the kind of person that gets HIV.

How frequently do you need to have this conversation?

Until it sinks in.

For some people what might be helpful is showing somebody a newspaper article. That may be all it takes. Maybe it’s just printing it out and leaving it on the table for your dad. Wow. Did you know HIV is such a big problem in older people in Florida? Hmm, I had no idea, that’s really interesting. I guess you really need to be careful out there, don’t you?

Anything that gets the ball rolling.

Culturally speaking, we tend to have a great discomfort with thinking of older people as sexually active. How does that discomfort affect people’s health?

I think in general our society is very uncomfortable talking about sex. I think for older people it’s magnified.

It’s just an innate discomfort. And I think it has an impact. If you bury your head in the sand and you don’t talk about it, you don’t think about it, you pretend it’s not happening, it causes problems down the road.

You know, if a woman becomes sexually active again after 50 years and she’s uncomfortable, she may not know. She may be mortified to think about walking into CVS and buying a pack of condoms. Could you imagine how hard that would be for a 65-year-old woman to do that? So you don’t do it. She may not know there are agencies and health departments that you can go in and get it for free and it’s discreet.

This reporter can be reached at smack@miamiherald.com.

Copyright 2011 HealthyState.org
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights.
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

USA: Many older adults retain their ability to enjoy sex well into old age

SAN DIEGO, California / University of California / August 24, 2011

Sexual Satisfaction Tied to Overall “Successful Aging” as Reported by Women Age 60 to 89

Senior couple kissing. Credit: © Alexander Raths/Dreamstime.com

A study by researchers at the Stein Institute for Research on Aging at the University of California, San Diego finds that successful aging and positive quality of life indicators correlate with sexual satisfaction in older women. The report, published online in the August edition of the Journal of the American Geriatric Society, also shows that self-rated successful aging, quality of life and sexual satisfaction appear to be stable even in the face of declines in physical health of women between the ages of 60 and 89.
The study looked at 1,235 women enrolled at the San Diego site of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study, a major ongoing research program funded by the National Institutes of Health which, since 1993, has addressed causes of death, disability and quality of life in more than 160,000 generally healthy, post-menopausal women.

As the researchers expected, sexual activity and functioning (such things as desire, arousal and ability to climax) were negatively associated with age, as were physical and mental health. However, in contrast to sexual activity and functioning, satisfaction with overall sex life was not significantly different between the three age cohorts studied: age 60 to 69; 70 to 70; and 80 to 89.

Approximately 67 percent, 60 percent, and 61 percent of women in these three age groups, respectively, reported that they were “moderately” to “very satisfied” with their sex lives.

“Contrary to our earlier hypothesis, sexual satisfaction was not significantly associated with age,” said Wesley K. Thompson, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry with the Stein Institute for Research on Aging at the UC San Diego School of Medicine, and co-lead author along with UC San Diego medical student Lindsey Charo, BA. “Although the levels of sexual activity and functioning did vary significantly, depending on the woman’s age, their perceived quality of life, successful aging and sexual satisfaction remained positive.”

Sexual activity was significantly lower in older age cohorts. Of the women who were married or in an intimate relationship, 70 percent of those aged 60 to 69, 57 percent of those aged 70 to 79, and 31 percent of those aged 80 to 89 reported having had some sexual activity in the previous six months. While women who were married or living in an intimate relationship engaged in higher rates of sexual activity than those who were not in such a relationship, sexual activity still decreased across age cohorts.

The findings of this study confirm earlier published research from the UCSD Stein Institute suggesting that self-rated health changes little with age even when objective health indicators show age-associated decline.

“What this study tells us is that many older adults retain their ability to enjoy sex well into old age,” said Thompson. “This is especially true of older adults who maintain a higher level of physical and mental health as they grow older. Furthermore, feeling satisfied with your sex life - whatever your levels of sexual activity - is closely related to your perceived quality of life.” He added that “while we cannot assess cause and effect from this study, these results suggest that maintaining a high level of sexual satisfaction may positively reinforce other psychological aspects of successful aging.”

Additional contributors to the study include Ipsit V. Vahia, MD, Colin Depp, PhD, Matthew Allison, MD, and Dilip V. Jeste, MD, all with the UCSD School of Medicine.

This work was supported, in part, by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Aging. The WHI program is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

© 2011 UCSD Medical Center
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights.
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

USA: Number of seniors with HIV/AIDS is growing

WINTER PARK, Florida / Ivanhoe Broadcast News / Seniors Health / August 11, 2011


What segment of the population currently has the highest rate of increase of HIV/AIDS cases?  The answer may come as a surprise; senior citizens! Take New Jersey for instance: in the last two years, state residents with HIV/AIDS aged 65 and over grew to over 15 percent!

According to Marilyn Riley, a spokeswoman from the New Jersey Department of Health and Human Services, much of the rise can be linked to seniors not believing they are at risk.  Those in long-term relationships may feel their partner is unlikely to be cheating on them; at the same time, older individuals who are sexually active may not be aware of the dangers of unprotected sex, or may be too embarrassed to seek medical advice.

“The rise of seniors with HIV/AIDS is a relatively recent phenomenon, and one that presents a unique set of challenges for the healthcare community,” Lawrence Siebert, CEO of Chembio Diagnostics, a New York-based developer and manufacturer of point-of-care diagnostic test, was quoted as saying.

“Older people didn’t get the lessons about HIV/AIDS that younger generations have received in school.  They are going to be reluctant to inform family members—especially their children—about their concerns.  Yet the fact is that rapid HIV testing can help. Rather than making seniors wait for days to get tested and additional days to get the results, rapid tests exist that can give results in as little as 15 minutes.”

Chembio—which already has two FDA-approved rapid tests for HIV on the market—has created a patented, next-generation testing approach known as Dual Path Platform (DPP®) technology that could form the basis of a new generation of home STD tests. The original focus for DPP® is rapid HIV testing, although it can be adapted to test for numerous infectious diseases. These tests are intended to enable screening for HIV to occur at the point of care, thereby significantly shortening the time to diagnosis and potentially decreasing the opportunity for further transmission.

DPP® enables the development of assays that offer unique features and capabilities such as multiplexing and better control of challenging sample types, such as oral fluid. Tests created to date on DPP® include an oral fluid HIV 1/2 test, a point-of-care confirmatory test for HIV 1/2, and a combination screening and confirmation test for syphilis.  Several other products including tests for hepatitis C and, influenza are in various stages of development.

The oral fluid HIV test is being submitted to the FDA for professional use approval this year; thereafter, a separate submission for over-the-counter approval of this product is anticipated.

Copyright © 2011 Ivanhoe Broadcast News, Inc.
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights.
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

USA: ‘Senior sexpert’ shatters a sexual taboo

SANTA ROSA, California / ThePressDemocrat / Living / August 6, 2011

Sebastopol author finds niche in talking about sex beyond 50

By Susan Swartz - For The Press Democrat

Joan Price’s new book, “Naked at Our Age: Talking Out Loud About Senior Sex,” follows “Better Than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk About Sex After Sixty,” which broke the “don’t ask, don’t tell” taboo of older-life sexuality.

Both published by Berkeley’s Seal Press, the books have bestowed a new label on the former high school English teacher and fitness instructor, that of “senior sexpert.” We caught up with Price, 68, at her Sebastopol home in between book tours.

Erica Jong wrote in the New York Times that sex between older people is the new unmentionable, “the thing that makes our kids yell, ‘Ewww, gross!’” Why gross?

Part of my original mission, why I wrote the first book, was to fight the “ick” factor and normalize the idea of ageless sexuality. To show that older bodies are still sexual and sensual. Part of the negative response to older sex comes from the media, which generally see older people as invisible, and if it portrays us at all we’re subservient to younger people who drive the story. The media also treats sex as something only the young enjoy.

Joan Price’s new book is aimed at readers in their 50s and older. Crista Jeremiason/PD

Do you see older people anywhere in the media portrayed as sexual beings?

There are notable exceptions. The older couple in the TV show “Parenthood,” is one. Meryl Streep in the movie with Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin (“It’s Complicated”), which showed older people being sexually desirable, was realistic in a Hollywood-y way. Of course, Meryl’s gorgeous and who wouldn’t want her?

When you talk about senior sex, what age group are you addressing?

In my first book, I talked about sex after 60, but I heard from retailers that people in their 50s, especially the post-menopausal years, wanted the same information. The people in this book range in age from 49 to 86.

What makes you a “senior sexpert?”

I didn’t come up with that title. Others started calling me that. But I have spent six years researching the field and found a lot of information that is not common knowledge. It’s more than a writing job for me. It’s a calling.

What is the difference in your first and second books?

My first book was more personal, about my life with Robert (the late artist Robert Rice), and how we celebrated what we had romantically, sexually, professionally, all of it. When I met Robert, I was 57 and he was 64. I had young people say they were buying my book for their parents and grandparents and that they were surprised by the joyfulness in it.

My second book came out of that first book because people wrote to me about not having good sex. The second book addresses those issues and problems. I have 135 reader stories in the book. And 45 sex experts, doctors and health professionals.

What are the most common questions and concerns you hear from the audience at your book readings and talks?

My body has changed and my sexual responses have changed. I don’t know how to talk to my partner. Is sex over? For women, the top concerns are lack of desire, vaginal pain, unreliable orgasms. For men, erectile difficulty is the main one.

You say that sex is good for our health. In what ways?

It helps protect against heart attack and stroke, as does all exercise. It reduces stress and increases self-esteem. It bolsters the immune system. It can alleviate chronic pain, including migraines. It helps us get to sleep. Those are some of the benefits Dr. Barb Depree mentions in the book.

So is this a big trend? Are all older people embracing their sexuality?

No. I get negative comments, people telling me, “Quit trying to push sex on us.” I don’t advocate anything. A couple may decide to not have sex, and that’s fine as long as both partners go along with it. On the other hand, I’ve met 75-year-old swingers.

Does all the advertising for Viagra and such products, showing silver-haired couples sitting in hot tubs watching the sunset, advance the cause of older sexuality?

At least they do let people know that sex goes on. However, while Viagra and other medications can be a solution to having erections, they are not a solution to relationship problems or to the lack of desire. The pills are not a panacea and can be injurious depending on various health conditions. For example, they can cause a bad reaction if mixed with anti-depressant medications.

Who are some of the experts you’ve interviewed?

One of my favorites is sex educator Peggy Brick, who has a Ph.D. and leads sex ed courses for seniors. I discovered a growing movement in sex educators and therapists. There are specialists in sex and cancer, in disabilities and sex. You can find a certified sex therapist at the website www.aasect.org (American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists).

Dr. Dean Edell, who wrote a blurb for your book, said “as far as sex in the senior years ... the best is yet to come.” Some of the people in your book claim that their sex lives are more satisfying today than when they were young. Why is that?

As we get older, men and women become more equally matched. We both need a longer arousal time and more interaction. And that’s good. It’s something a lot of women have always been wishing for.

Price will talk about her book August 16 at the Center for Sex and Culture in San Francisco.
Info: sexandculture.org. For more go to http://www.nakedatourage.com./

Susan Swartz is a freelance writer and author based in Sonoma County. 
E-Mail: susan@juicytomatoes.com.

Copyright © 2011 PressDemocrat.com
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights.
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

KOREA: One in 10 elderly have unsafe sex

SEOUL, Korea / The Korea Times / Nation / July 31, 2011

By Lee Hyo-sik

One in 10 Korean men aged over 60 is found to have bought sex at least once but many do not use condoms nor engage in other safe sex practices, exposing themselves to a range of sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs).

In a survey of 1,804 senior citizens aged over 60 (816 men and 988 women), the Urology Department at St. Vincent’s Hospital, affiliated with the Catholic University of Korea, said four tested positive for syphilis and 14 were diagnosed with Chlamydia.

Illustration: koreabridge.com
The average age of those examined was 64.6 years-old and they resided in Seoul and other urban areas. The findings were published in the latest issue of Journal of Infection and Chemotherapy. Prof. Lee Seung-joo and Prof. Choi Hyun-seob of the hospital’s Urology Department coauthored the paper.

About 26.2 percent of the respondents said they did not use condoms at all while engaging in sexual intercourse, with 28.6 percent employing the most common safe-sex practice occasionally. Around 10.6 percent of elderly men said they had sex with prostitutes at least once over the past year.

The study also found that 78.2 percent of respondents had not previously taken STD tests, meaning Korea’s elderly population is not adequately aware of the importance of safe sex or their vulnerability to STDs. About 37.5 percent said they or their partners have taken Viagra or other performance enhancing drugs.

“With the rising life expectancy and improving health conditions, a growing number of senior citizens are seeking an active sex life,” Prof. Choi said. “But there are only a few studies concerning the sexuality of the elderly, making it difficult for medical professionals to adequately understand pending issues on sexual health of the aged.”

He said the STD contraction rates among Korean elderly are not as high as those of other countries. “Given that an increasing number of senior citizens are engaging prostitutes, the government should make greater efforts to increase the awareness about the risks of unprotected sex and properly treat senior citizens infected with STDs,” Choi said.

According to the health ministry, the number of venereal disease cases among those aged over 65 increased to 64,000 in 2009, up from 44,000 in 2007. They accounted for 5.5 percent of the total VD patients in 2009, up from 4 percent three years ago.

Copyright: The Korea Times
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights.
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.