Those Sexy Seniors

A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine this week reports that American men and women are enjoying active sex lives well into their autumn years.  If the article is indeed an accurate indication, well over half of the country’s seniors (at least up to age 85, given the study’s parameters) are doing their job to challenge some stereotypical views of sex at an advanced age.

Washington Post:

“There’s a popular perception that older people aren’t as interested in sex as younger people,” said Stacy Tessler Lindau of the University of Chicago, who led the study, being published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. “Our study shows that’s simply not true. Older people value sexuality as an important part of life.”

“This study paints a portrait of this aspect of older Americans’ lives that suggests a previously uncharacterized vitality and interest in sexuality,” agreed Georgeanne E. Patmios of the National Institute on Aging, the primary funder of the study. “This has not perhaps been fully appreciated.”

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