Over-70s still sexually active…But STIs are on the rise

The majority us probably think that people tend to lose all trace of a sex life as they get older, and certainly the thought of our grandparents being intimate would be the last thing on our mind…but it seems more and more people into their 70s, 80s and beyond, are maintaining fairly active sex lives.

The findings of a recent study suggest that adults over the age of 70 are having sex at least twice each month. In addition to this, rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as syphilis and genital warts seem to be spiralling amongst older people.

Reporting in ‘The Conversation’, Sharron Hinchliff, Senior Lecturer, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sheffield, argues that sex amongst older adults should be more openly discussed, given the statistics.

She says: “A report published earlier this year found that those with a sexual partner tended to rate their quality of life as higher than those without one, although some studies have placed greater emphasis on relationship status and social engagement. When I interviewed a number of over-50s about their (heterosexual) sex lives for a qualitative study, I found that many who were still in sexual relationships rated them as very or extremely important.

The reasons for the participants’ emphasis on sex included strengthening their relationship with their partners but also pleasure. For some women, sex had improved with age, which they related to feeling more relaxed because they had more sexual experience and no longer feared becoming pregnant.”

Sharron also argues that sexual health campaigns tend to primarily focus on the younger demographic, as these are the ones at risk from not only sexually transmitted infections, but unplanned pregnancies following the failure to use condoms.

Between the years 2009 and 2013, STI rates within the the over-45s increased across different diseases, with an 11% rise in genital warts amongst men aged 45-64, and a staggering 500% rise in syphilis cases for women over the age of 65. According to Sharron, “The majority of diagnoses of all STIs in the older age groups were in men, but gonorrhoea and syphilis were highest among heterosexual women and men who have sex with men.”

She continued: “As a result, some sexual health campaigns are now being aimed at older people.
This year’s Sexual Health Week in the UK is focused on sexual pleasure and well-being – and one of the campaign’s five strands is aimed at educating professionals and the public about the sexual well-being of older people.

Campaigns that promote sexual pleasure are new, even though the idea of incorporating pleasure into sexual health materials is not.

Young people in the UK are only just seeing such messages so it’s great that the sexual pleasure of older people is now being recognised too. But infectious disease is only one factor that can affect pleasure and well-being.

Long-term conditions and some sexual difficulties are more likely to be diagnosed in our 50s or later.
These include erectile dysfunction, which affects around 30 per cent of men aged 65-74, and uncomfortable vaginal dryness, experienced by 20 per cent of women in the same age group.”

Previously, it could be assumed that the older generation may struggle to meet prospective new partners for sex, particularly after experiencing poor health or becoming widowed, but Sharron sheds light on this.

“There is evidence that some older people are embracing technology and going online to meet potential partners for a sexual relationship. One survey found that 38% of people aged 50-59 and 37% of those aged 60-69 had met their partners online.

We should perhaps also reconsider what we think about as sexual activity when it comes to older people. For one thing, many older people engage in masturbation for sexual pleasure, countering the notion that it is a sexual act pursued only by the young. But there is also evidence that ideas about what activities count as sexual become broader as we age. For some, actions such as playing footsie under the breakfast table can give the intimacy that sexual activity previously had.

While research into the sexual well-being of older people is growing, there are gaps that wait to be filled, particularly the ways that ageing intersects with gender identity, sexual orientation, social class, disability and ethnic group. Exploring these areas will develop our understanding of sexual pleasure in older age, and better inform services for those to whom sex is important.”

Risky Holiday Sex Habits Uncovered by Medical Specialists® Pharmacy Survey

Despite the fact that British weather is generally OK around June to August, this is still the peek time for holidaymakers to venture abroad and bask in the glorious sunshine in popular destinations such as Ibiza, Majorca, Benidorm and many more.

Relaxing on the beach sipping sangria or beer and forgetting about worries at home can feel like heaven, but it can risk making people feel a little too relaxed. This carefree spirit that often goes hand-in-hand with holidays abroad can lead to a slightly reckless attitude in regards to safe sex and sexual health – especially when alcohol is involved.

Booze can lead to a complete loss of inhibitions and then engaging in risky sexual liaisons with strangers…something perhaps people might have thought twice about back at home. Getting too drunk and ‘caught up in the moment’ is a worrying trend and this poor attitude is being shown by thousands – especially those in their late teens and early 20s – and is something Medical Specialists® Pharmacy wanted to learn more about.

These attitudes were explored in the journal Tourism Management, and then discussed on 23rd July in the Daily Mail Online.

Therefore, Medical Specialists® thought this would be the perfect time to discuss more findings on the subject matter, coming from a survey carried out at the beginning of the month to mark the start of summer.

With an extensive sexual health product range like that spans from the Clamelle chlamydia testing kit, to antibiotics for chlamydia and gonorrhoea and female contraceptive pills, Medical Specialists® are strong advocates for the improving of sexual health and sexual health services…even giving away 1,000s of free condoms over the last few years during Sexual Health Week and for World AIDS Day.

Therefore, with summer beginning at the start of July, Medical Specialists® decided to quiz patients about their attitudes to sex – in particularly looking at behaviours when overseas during a summer holiday. In total, 2,235 single people aged between 18 and 30 decided to take part in the survey, which provided some interesting, and perhaps worrying findings.

Although more than 60% said they always carried condoms whilst on holiday, nearly 40% admitted to only occasionally packing condoms, or never bothering to at all. The survey found that 22% were too embarrassed to talk about contraception when having sex with a new partner.

A staggering 78% said they had previously had sex with a fellow holidaymaker, with 40% of the respondents claiming they had even slept with a local. At the extreme end of the scale, 4% of those surveyed said that had more than 10 sexual partners on their last holiday.

Shockingly, more than a third (34%) confessed they had cheated on a partner whilst on holiday, but just 5% of those had been found out by their partner.

Questions were also asked about any possible sexually transmitted infections (STIs) people may have brought back from holiday along with their luggage, tans and hangovers. A statistic that Medical Specialists® finds alarming, nearly half (47%) said they had never been tested for a sexually transmitted infection.

Moreover, 20% of those surveyed said they had been diagnosed with an STI after returning from a holiday overseas, with chlamydia (46%) being by far the most commonly diagnosed infection, followed by genital warts(22%) and genital herpes rounding off the top three at 19%.

It is vital to remember that within certain countries compared to the UK, STIs can be extremely common and obviously this places people at an even greater risk. In addition, with the most common STI (chlamydia), around seven in 10 women and half of men infected with chlamydia don’t show up with any signs or symptoms.

However, symptoms of STIs can include:

• Unusual discharge from your penis, vagina or anus.
• Itching, blisters, sores or lumps on or around the genitals.
• Pain or tenderness in the testicles.
• Pain or a burning feeling when passing urine.
• Darker urine.
• For women, bleeding between periods and/or after sex.

For those that have engaged in unprotected sex (and not just whilst on holiday) or believe they may have contracted an STI, it is vital to see a GP or visit a sexual health clinic to get tested as soon as possible. If the infection isn’t treated, this could lead to more serious health problems such as infertility.

Alternatively, Medically Specialists® Pharmacy offer the Clamelle chlamydia test kit for just £24.85 which can be used in the privacy and comfort of your own home to prevent an embarrassing visit to the GP or GUM clinic and there is no need to take any time off work

Arthritis drug found to boost hair growth for alopecia sufferer

Male hair loss is not a life-threatening condition. Nobody has ever died from losing hair on the scalp, or indeed anywhere else around the body. However, it is widely accepted that for some men, losing their hair can have massive emotional and psychological damage.

One of the most common causes of hair loss is alopecia areata, an autoimmune disorder that typically causes round patches of rapid hair loss from some or even all areas of the body, but usually the scalp is the main area afflicted.

A more severe form of alopecia areata is known as alopecia universalis, whereby the sufferer unfortunately experiences total loss of all body hair. Perhaps the most well-known person to have alopecia universalis is comedian and star of Little Britain, Matt Lucas.

There remains no standard treatment or permanent cure for alopecia universalis, but experts have studied the possibilities of various treatments, such as immunomodulatory agents like imiquimod (the active ingredient in Aldara cream, used to treat genital warts).

However, doctors at Yale University in the U.S. have remarkably been able to reverse alopecia universalis in a 25-year-old unnamed male who also had plaque psoriasis. The man had initially requested help for his psoriasis, another autoimmune condition.

The doctors at Yale pondered if they could possibly treat both autoimmune problems with one single treatment, deciding to try the Pfizer-manufactured arthritis medication Xeljanz (tofacitinib citrate). This was chosen specifically as according to Science World Report, the drug had found to be effective in mice at treating both psoriasis and alopecia.

The patient was first administered with tofacitinib at 10mg daily by the doctors, and his psoriasis showed some improvement. However, he had also grown scalp and facial hair – the first hair he had grown in these areas for a staggering seven years.

After three more additional months of therapy, this time at a 15mg dose, the patient had benefited from a complete regrowth in scalp hair and quite visible eyebrows, eyelashes, and facial hair, as well as armpit and other hair, the doctors commented.

“The results are exactly what we hoped for,” said Brett A. King, M.D., senior author of the paper, published online in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. “This is a huge step forward in the treatment of patients with this condition.”

“There are no good options for long-term treatment of alopecia universalis,” added King. “The best available science suggested this might work, and it has.”

According to King, scientists think the drug boosts hair growth by stopping the immune attack on hair follicles.

“By eight months there was full regrowth of hair,” said co-author Brittany G. Craiglow, M.D. “The patient has reported feeling no side effects, and we’ve seen no lab test abnormalities, either.”

Penile cancer is on the rise – but what are the symptoms?

Cases of penile cancer have risen by 20% in the last three decades and there are huge concerns that men’s symptoms are being misdiagnosed as a sexually transmitted infection.

The fears come as 58-year-old Nigel Smith, from Wolverhampton, almost lost his life from a misdiagnosis. Mr Smith was told he merely had a genital wart that would eventually go away. He managed to hide the symptoms from his wife for a whole year by sleeping in another room and blaming his snoring.

In 2011 Mr Smith was eventually told he had penile cancer and last year underwent a partial penectomy (a removal of part of the penis), now left with the daunting possibility of having to go through reconstructive surgery.

He said: “If my GP had sent me to a urologist rather than a sex clinic, the cancer could have been diagnosed at stage 1 and treated. By the time I saw a urologist, the cancer was stage 3 – one stage away from terminal. I’m now in temporary remission but there’s a 50/50 chance that the disease will return as a secondary cancer – maybe in my lungs or liver.”

Mr Smith is clearly distressed he was not diagnosed early enough, and speaks of the impact it has had on his marriage, adding: “Every time I go to the toilet I have a painful reminder of what’s happened, so it’s hard to put things behind me. The sexual side of my marriage has ended. I’m 60 but I’m a young 60! It shouldn’t be the end yet. The psychological impact of it all is massive. It’s more traumatic than anyone who hasn’t been through this can know. I didn’t talk about my symptoms for so long and hid them from my wife. It’s a man thing; we ignore things and hope they’ll go away. If you find something, you need to get it looked at.”

Despite the number of cases going up in the last 30 years, penile cancer is usually incredibly rare, with only around 550 new cases diagnosed each year in the UK – most commonly in men over the age of 50.

The new research, supported by the male cancer charity Orchid, has been published in the journal Cancer Causes Control and provides an interesting insight into a rare disease that is still not well known amongst men.

Orchid chief executive, Rebecca Porta says: “The research shows that the incidence of this devastating cancer, which currently receives little recognition, is on the increase. Unlike other more common cancers, penile cancer is rare and many men feel embarrassed and unable to talk openly about it. This can lead to feelings of isolation at a time when support is vital. It is very important that men are aware of the warning signs and symptoms of the disease and that those with worrying symptoms seek medical advice as soon as possible.”

Symptoms of the cancer include:

.  A painless lump or ulcer on the penis that doesn’t heal.

. A red rash underneath the foreskin.

. Bleeding.

. Change in colour of the skin.

. Difficulty in drawing back the foreskin (phimosis).

. Discharge from under the foreskin with an odour.

. Flat growths that are brown in colour.

. Swollen lymph nodes in your groin area.

The causes of penile cancer have not yet been fully established, but certain factors are believed to increase your risk of developing the disease. For instance, men who smoke are at a heightened risk of cancer of the penis, whilst men with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection could be as much as a six-fold risk of penile cancer. In addition, conditions like phimosis, where the foreskin sometimes cannot retract, can mean there is a chance of infections developing such as balanitis.

For more information about the often misunderstood penile cancer, visit http://www.orchid-cancer.org.uk/Penile-Cancer