{"id":4045,"date":"2016-05-12T20:33:04","date_gmt":"2011-05-12T20:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.edrugstore.md\/articles\/?p=4045"},"modified":"2011-05-12T20:33:04","modified_gmt":"2011-05-12T20:33:04","slug":"stds-on-the-rise-among-seniors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.edrugstore.com\/blog\/current-health-news\/stds-on-the-rise-among-seniors\/","title":{"rendered":"Oh Those Frisky Boomers: STDs On The Rise Among Seniors"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Dan Seitz<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/a>Viagra has given back sexual vitality to millions.\u00a0 Years after many people had forgotten about sex, they suddenly find themselves feeling frisky.\u00a0 Soon followed, in way too many cases, of feeling an uncomfortable sensation below the belt, and an extremely awkward doctor’s visit.<\/p>\n

Cases of chlamydia and syphillis are up 43% among seniors across the nation, with certain senior \u201chotspots\u201d going up as high at 71%.\u00a0 And no, as much as you don’t want to think about it, it’s not because you get them from toilet seats.\u00a0 Grandpa is getting out and getting busy, and sometimes he’s picking up something nasty into the bargain.<\/p>\n

People are blaming the \u201cfree love\u201d mentality of the Boomers, but it’s really more how they were educated.\u00a0 Unlike the young people of today, who grew up being educated about the risks of AIDS and how to practice safe sex, Boomers grew up during a time when birth control was controversial and sexual matters were not often discussed.\u00a0 To give you an idea, here’s what Boomers generally had for sex ed.<\/a><\/p>\n

Notice how long it takes them to even get to the point?\u00a0 Now imagine everybody you talked to acted like that.\u00a0 It’s no wonder people used to be convinced masturbation grew hair on your palms or that it made you go blind: look what they had to work with for information! \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hippie or square, the simple fact of the matter is you probably know more about the risks of sex and how to reduce them than your dad does.\u00a0 The big risk was getting your partner pregnant if her birth control failed, and post-menopause, that’s not a concern.\u00a0 They certainly never used condoms before, so why start now?<\/p>\n

There are other factors: medical technology has advanced incredibly, and a person of seventy now is much more vital and active (a lot more than we thought, apparently) that a person of seventy even ten years ago.\u00a0 Even the most proper person has adjusted to the softening sexual mores over the years.\u00a0 And instead of retirement homes, there are retirement communities which allow more privacy and socialization, which means more people to meet and have sparks fly with, and more places to…uh…kindle the sparks.<\/p>\n

Finally, there’s simple loneliness.\u00a0 Many retirees lose their spouses and find themselves without a partner for the first time in decades.\u00a0 It’s easy to forget what it’s like to be single, \"\"<\/a>especially when mourning, and some people are just looking for simple comfort.<\/p>\n

Beyond making your brain hurt as you try to erase the image of Grandpa with a stripper from your mind, there are real problems.\u00a0 Seniors in general are more likely to catch STDs, and they’re more likely to be serious health problems.\u00a0 In fact, the same drugs that keep ailments like hypertension and diabetes manageable can also make them more susceptible to STDs: nobody really thought about a diabetes patient getting around a little too much, probably because the thought made them gag.<\/p>\n

In short, you might have to sit Grandpa down and give him \u201cthe talk\u201d.\u00a0 Just…don’t use the banana demonstration, OK?\u00a0 It’s just going to make everyone uncomfortable.\u00a0 Especially us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Dan Seitz Viagra has given back sexual vitality to millions.\u00a0 Years after many people had forgotten about sex, they suddenly find themselves feeling frisky.\u00a0 Soon followed, in way too many cases, of feeling an uncomfortable sensation below the belt, and an extremely awkward doctor’s visit. Cases of chlamydia and syphillis are up 43% among […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_autoblog_aioseo_focus_keyphrase":"","_autoblog_aioseo_title":"","_autoblog_aioseo_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-health-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t