THE INCREASED use by older men of drugs to reverse erectile dysfunction may be producing an unexpected side effect. The incidence of sexually transmitted diseases for men and women in the 50-90 age group has doubled over the past decade.
Cases of syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhoea rose sharply during the 2000s, according to a study published this morning in the British Medical Journal . While doctors have their suspicions, there is little concrete data to explain why this mini-epidemic is taking place.
More surprisingly, the study shows that there has also been a sharp rise in cases of HIV infection in older men.
Males over 50 now account for 20 per cent of adults accessing HIV care, an 82 per cent increase on figures from 2001, said the report’s authors, Rachel von Simson from King’s College London and Dr Ranjababu Kulasegaram from St Thomas’s Hospital in London.
Blighty, hah? You’d never catch our oldsters disporting themselves like that.
Nice cup of tea and a bun. Bit of light spanking. Mogadon. Bed.
Sexual Diseases Rise Among Elderly (Irish Times)
