72 Address Underlying Health Issues for a Longer Love Life
Need another reason to keep up your healthy habits? People who consider themselves in good health are nearly twice as likely to be interested in sex in middle and older age, report University of Chicago researchers. And respondents to a 2004 AARP survey of older adults said that they believed better health would improve their sex life more than any other factor. Research backs that up: The healthier you are as you get older, the more years of good sex you can have, according to a 2010 study in the British Medical Journal. The researchers looked at a group of three thousand adults age fifty-seven to eighty-five and, based on their survey responses, calculated that at age fifty-five, the sexually active life expectancy was 15 years for men and 10.6 years for women. Men in very good or excellent health gained an average of five to seven years of sexually active life beyond that, compared with men in poorer health. For women in the study, being in very good shape added three to six more years of a superior sex life.
In another study of sexual activity among older adults in the United States, researchers found that men and women who said they had poor health were less likely to be sexually active, and even those who were sexually active reported having more sexual problems. Still, only 38 percent of men and 22 percent of women in the study said they had discussed sex—including the sexual effects of their health conditions—with a doctor since they turned fifty.
Health problems like arthritis or rheumatism, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and depression can all affect desire and sexual performance. While preventing these conditions in the first place is ideal, treating them or addressing the problematic symptoms can help you have satisfying sex for years to come.
Treat the Conditions to Lengthen Your Sex Life
Stiff, sore joints or chronic pain can make sexual contact uncomfortable and interfere with intimacy. Try the tips in part IV to keep your joints flexible and reduce pain, and experiment to see if sex is more comfortable for you at different times—in the morning or evening, after exercising, or after a warm bath, for example. Changing positions may also help (for example, try lying on your side, or having the partner with less pain on top). Some pain medications affect sexual function, so talk to your doctor if you think they’re causing side effects.
Diabetes, and the obesity that usually accompanies it, can cause erectile dysfunction (ED) in some men. Researchers aren’t as sure how diabetes affects women’s sexuality, but a 2009 study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine found that diabetic women were more likely to have trouble reaching orgasm. In another small study, women with diabetes more frequently reported reduced sexual drive, arousal, vaginal lubrication, orgasm, and overall satisfaction than nondiabetic women—and the longer they’d had diabetes, the worse the sexual problems. Diabetes also increases the risk of vaginal yeast infections, which can make sex uncomfortable. Lifestyle changes (including eating a healthier diet, losing weight, and exercising) and drugs to control blood sugar can help restore sexual function in both men and women.
About two-thirds of men with high blood pressure note problems with ED, and hypertension-related ED tends to be worse than in men with normal blood pressure. Women with hypertension are also more than twice as likely to report sexual dysfunction, notes a 2006 study in the Journal of Hypertension. Common hypertension drugs such as diuretics and beta-blockers can also have sexual side effects, such as lowered libido, ED, and delayed orgasm in women (
73). Switching drugs or lowering blood pressure through lifestyle changes (52) can put the sizzle back into your sex life. Heart disease is linked to ED in men, and they share the same primary risk factors: high LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, smoking, hypertension, and diabetes. In fact, men with ED are twice as likely to die from cardiovascular disease, notes a 2010 study in Circulation. Changes to blood vessels also reduce blood flow, which can cause both men and women to have trouble with orgasms. Most patients with stable heart conditions can safely be sexually active, and treatment for ED and to improve blood vessel health (such as controlling hypertension and cholesterol) can make sex more enjoyable.
Up to half of people with untreated depression report some type of sexual dysfunction. Unfortunately, several common drugs to treat it bring unwelcome sexual side effects (73). To restore the luster to your love life, try natural mood boosters such as exercise and social interaction to help raise your spirits—they may even allow you to lower your dose of medication. And ask your doctor if switching medications might help.