Divorce And Viagra Cause Middle-Aged STI Jump
Sexually transmitted diseases enjoy a middle-aged heydey in Great Britain.
More often than not we associate chlamydia, herpes, and crabs with the young, reckless sexually naive set. You know -- one too many beers and no condom at the frat house, a night of passion with a hot stranger who leaves you with an ugly surprise, and so on and so forth. Chlamydia Now Being Blamed For Male Infertility As Well
Adults, like true honest to God middle-aged adults, should know better. Right? Right?
Apparently not. It appears the divorced, over-45 set in Great Britain is rediscovering the lost art of middle-aged STI-swapping.
According to the GUM (general-urinary medicine) clinics and Dr Christian Jessen, the sexual health expert and director of the Better2Know clinics, in the past five years almost all STI's have experienced a jump with the divorced, single, ready-to-jingle folks.
To be specific, chlamydia has risen 6%, herpes skyrocketed by an astonishing 80%, syphilis has gone up 40%, and genital warts is up 33%.
So what gives? Too much sex on T.V.? Raunchy rap lyrics? Is this something we can pin on Madonna and her baby Jesus? (Please say yes!)
Unfortunately, no. The culprit, experts say, is threefold: no fear of pregnancy (thus no condom), higher divorce rate (thus more casual sex) and drugs like Viagra and Cialis that help men perform later on in life.
If this trend continues, health officials may need to start spoon-feeding wrap-it-up type of education to people who have been having sex for well over 30 years. Jon Gosselin, Lover Hide With Lindsay Lohan's Dad
"There seems to be a naivety about their risk of sexual infection," Dr. Jessen said. "Further education and effective testing and treatment are vital across all age brackets.'
In fact, an embarrassing poll was conducted among adults aged 45-55 where nearly a fifth copped to having unprotected sex with a new partner. As silly as it sounds, most of that fifth admitted they felt their chances of catching something were "next to nothing."
Wow. We propose officials sit them down with a few of those "I'm Positive" videos they show in free clinic waiting rooms. That usually does the trick. (For a little while at least.)
Discussion
I don't remember such education coming our way when we were the British "20's" group, it seems to have passed us by. Many are embarrassed to go in and wait for hours only to be told we then need to be patient for results that can take weeks. But it is never too late to learn, and some places offer same day or 48 hour results. Last month I tested with Better2Know (www.better2know.co.uk) and I came away with peace of mind to begin a new relationship at 51 following my divorce last year.
I don't think Viagra is to blame. I think it's ignorance.
It may be hard to believe, but when I grew up the sex education on STDs went like this - if you get gonorrhea or syphilis it's important to go to the doctor for treatment. If you don't get antibiotics fast enough, there can be serious consequences later on. Be sure you know the symptoms and get treatment fast.
Safe sex meant using birth control and avoiding weird, scary partners.
So when someone in their late 40's or older gets divorced, they think, oh, time to have fun being single. Then they go back to their behavior when they were young - which probably did not include using condoms.
