Aging and Sex

Sex and aging has become an issue of growing popularity. At the same time, with changing dietary and activity patterns, and new medical treatments, many people in their senior years are relatively healthy and desirous of continuing an active life, including an active sex life. While prior to the 1960s the topic of sex in later life was consciously ignored in the media, not included in most sex research, and considered an inappropriate issue for public discussion, today it is receiving increasing attention.

Indeed, the first serious book on the topic was not published until the 1960s, and the first reliable study did not appear until 1966 with the publication of the seminal work of sex researchers Masters and Johnson.

Even now the topic of sexuality and aging is often treated with tremendous sentimentality or with derisive humor, and it is hard for some people to conceive of sexual desire and passion among the elderly except in terms of lechery. While perhaps receding in the popular imagination, the image of the "dirty old man" that chases after young women has not disappeared.

Moreover, until recently, feelings of sexuality and sexual need among those over 60 years of age might be cause for guilt feelings, based on the culturally constructed assumption that people were supposed to "mature out of" sexual interest and become sexual neuters as they entered into their so-called "golden years."

New studies, like "The Starr-Weiner Report on Sex and Sexuality in the Mature Years" (1981) and "E. Brecher's Love, Sex, and Aging" (1984) have provided new information about sexual behavior and attitudes among those over 60 years of age. The understanding of normal sexual needs and practices among the elderly that emerges from this research contradicts earlier assumptions and stereotypes.

Aging Doesn't Diminish Sex Drive
Generally, this research has found that age typically does not significantly diminish the need and desire for sex, that regular sexual activity is standard when a partner is available, and that most elderly believe that sex contributes to both physical and psychological health.

Furthermore, studies have shown that physical capacity for male erection and male and female orgasm continue almost indefinitely, and that achieving orgasm is desired but not always achieved. Research has also found that sexual practices are varied and include masturbation and oral sex, in addition to intercourse, and, for many, sexual satisfaction increases rather than decreases as individuals enter into their senior years.
In terms of problems, impotence and failure to achieve orgasm as well as failure to find suitable partners are important sources of frustration. These studies have led to the realization — now generally accepted among psychologists and sex therapists—that sexual interest and the need for sexual contact continue throughout the life cycle, although patterns differ somewhat for women and men.

Differences in sexual patterns between males and females are found throughout the life cycle. While capacity for erection in males begins while they are still in the womb, reproductive ability (i.e., the production of semen) begins at about age 13, but may not start until the boy is 16 years of age. As this suggests, there is considerable normal variation among males, as well as females, in the onset of various changes in sexuality.

When Boys Reach Sexual Peak
Boys reach the height of their sexual functioning at about age 18, followed by a slow drop in their capacity for erection and ejaculation from that point on. The drop in male steroid hormones only becomes measurable by about age 30. With declining hormonal production, there is a slow decline in the speed of physiological responsiveness and a lengthening of the refractory period — the time needed after ejaculation for the penis to again be able to achieve an erection.

By age 40, most men begin to experience a decrease in physiological responsiveness, sexual arousability and functioning. There continues to be a gradual decline through the 50's. Although there is wide variability, at this point males generally are only half as sexually active as they were at the peak of their capacity in their late teens and early twenties.

During the late 40s and increasing gradually thereafter, the urgency of sexual interest declines, erection is less frequent and more difficult to sustain, the turgidity of the erection diminishes, ejaculation is less forceful, and refractory time is lengthened.

After age 40, many men begin to experience periodic inability to achieve an erection and the frequency of this incapacity increases over time and becomes quite common by the 60s. However, although by the 60s all of the changes noted above are quite noticeable in almost all men, the pleasure they derive from sex may not be significantly affected.
Indeed, recent studies show that most men (unless they have certain health problems) are able to participate in and enjoy sex their entire life span, and many are able to produce viable semen until quite late in life (Pablo Picasso reportedly fathered a child at 90 years of age). Thus it is not completely surprising to discover that, in recent years, elderly men in senior housing apartments have become a regular source of clients among prostitutes.

Various factors can limit sexual interest and capacity in men as they age. There are a number of organic problems of the heart and circulatory system, glands and hormonal system, and the nervous system that can, to varying degrees, diminish male capacity for and interest in sex. And the side effects of many medications used to treat some of these organic conditions can themselves compound the problem.

Masters and Johnson originally reported that as much as 90 percent of male impotence has a psychological origin. Due to more sophisticated urological testing procedures it is now estimated that only about 40 percent of erectile problems are purely psychological.

Aging and Sex on Male Impotence
The majority of causes of male impotence have their origin in hormonal, vascular or neurological factors. Regardless of the causes of erectile difficulty, there is always a psychological effect on the male. Men who experience an inability to achieve or sustain an erection on several occasions may be so anxious about inadequacy that a self-defeating process is initiated that causes them to avoid sexual situations and sexual arousal.

Other psychological factors, including depression, lowered self-esteem associated with overall loss of physical strength and the onset of physical signs of aging, anxiety, and substance abuse can all contribute to male impotence.

Sexual Response in Women
The capacity for sexual reproduction begins earlier in females than in males, often two years earlier. However, the commencement of puberty varies among girls and may not begin until age 14 or 15. Women differ from men in that the decline in sexual responsiveness with aging is quite gradual.
Indeed, recent studies show that most men (unless they have certain health problems) are able to participate in and enjoy sex their entire life span, and many are able to produce viable semen until quite late in life (Pablo Picasso reportedly fathered a child at 90 years of age). Thus it is not completely surprising to discover that, in recent years, elderly men in senior housing apartments have become a regular source of clients among prostitutes.

Various factors can limit sexual interest and capacity in men as they age. There are a number of organic problems of the heart and circulatory system, glands and hormonal system, and the nervous system that can, to varying degrees, diminish male capacity for and interest in sex. And the side effects of many medications used to treat some of these organic conditions can themselves compound the problem.

Masters and Johnson originally reported that as much as 90 percent of male impotence has a psychological origin. Due to more sophisticated urological testing procedures it is now estimated that only about 40 percent of erectile problems are purely psychological.

Aging and Sex on Male Impotence
The majority of causes of male impotence have their origin in hormonal, vascular or neurological factors. Regardless of the causes of erectile difficulty, there is always a psychological effect on the male. Men who experience an inability to achieve or sustain an erection on several occasions may be so anxious about inadequacy that a self-defeating process is initiated that causes them to avoid sexual situations and sexual arousal.

Other psychological factors, including depression, lowered self-esteem associated with overall loss of physical strength and the onset of physical signs of aging, anxiety, and substance abuse can all contribute to male impotence.

Sexual Response in Women
The capacity for sexual reproduction begins earlier in females than in males, often two years earlier. However, the commencement of puberty varies among girls and may not begin until age 14 or 15. Women differ from men in that the decline in sexual responsiveness with aging is quite gradual.