More sex and happiness for 70 year olds

You might be 70 and losing certain abilities but according to a new study in Sweden an active sex life is not one of the things being left behind at that age.

According to four separate studies of 70-year-olds in Gothenburg between 1971 and 2001 the proportion of married 70-year-old men having sexual intercourse in the previous year increased from 52% to 68% while for married women it jumped from 38% to 56%.

Among unmarried men it rose from 30% to 54% and 0.8% to 12% for women. Those having sex at least weekly went from 10% to 31% among both married and unmarried men and from 9% to 26% for women.

And it was allegedly mostly good sex. The proportion of men reporting high satisfaction with their sex lives rose from 58% to 71% with women increasing in satisfaction from 41% to 62%.

Women said they “always or usually” had an orgasm ( up from 59% to 83%) while men’s impotence reportedly dropped from 18% to 8%.

Sydney sex therapist and psychologist Serena Cauchi told The Australian newspaper that the advent of drugs such as Viagra in 1998 which treated male impotence had assisted sexual intercourse between couples who previously found it almost impossible.