More STDs for Older Widowers in ED Drug Era

	Tweet

Widowers take care: Older men who have recently lost their wives are more likely than still-married peers to be diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease (STD), according to a new study.

Not only that, erectile dysfunction (ED) drugs might up the risk as men respond to ads promising a new lease on lust.

Harvard researchers Kirsten Smith, Ph.D., and Nicholas Christakis, M.D., looked at a random sample of more than 400,000 U.S. couples in which both members were between 67 and 99 years old when the study began in 1993.

Nine years later, 21 percent of men and 43 percent of women had lost their spouses. Of those, a small proportion had been diagnosed with an STD. Men had a 16 percent higher risk of being infected during the six months to a year after their wives died. Women, however, were not at significantly higher risk after losing their husbands.

The likelihood of receiving an STD diagnosis rose by 83 percent for recently bereaved men from 1998 onward, when oral Viagra (sildenafil) hit the U.S market.

So what does this mean for the newly widowed?

“First, the percentage of older adults who were diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection during the multiple years of follow-up was very low — less than 1 percent for both sexes,” Smith wrote in an e-mail.

“Nonetheless,” Smith added, “older adults need to be aware that they are at risk of contracting a sexually transmitted infection if they take on a new sexual partner following a spouse’s death. For men ages 67 and older, the age group that we studied, the use of medications for erectile dysfunction may contribute to that risk by making sex possible. That said, the lesson applies to all older people with new partners.”

The study in the November issue of the American Journal of Public Health found that gonorrhea was the most common STD in men, while trichomoniasis was most common in women. Other STDs included syphilis, genital herpes, HIV and human papilloma virus (HPV).

Rebecca Hamm, spokesperson for Pfizer, the maker of Viagra, said, “Pfizer encourages all men with ED to see their doctor for a proper diagnosis and to discuss symptoms, treatment options and safe sexual practices. It is clearly stated in the Viagra product label, all product patient communications and television advertising that Viagra does not protect against sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.”

The American Journal of Public Health is the monthly journal of the American Public Health Association. Visit http://www.apha.org for more information. Complimentary online access to the journal is available to credentialed members of the media. Contact Patricia Warin at APHA, (202) 777-2511 .

Smith KP, Christakis MA. Association between widowhood and risk of diagnosis with a sexually transmitted disease in older adults. Am J Public Health 99(11), 2009.

Source:  Health Behavior News Service

RELATED STORIES:
To fight prostitution, some say target clients   Opioids and cannabinoids influence mobility of spermatozoids   Sons of infertile moms may have poor semen quality   Excess weight reduces men’s fertility   Is your laptop cooking your testicles?   Study Offers Evolutionary Perspective on After-Sex Behaviors   On the geographies of sex, drugs, and sexual health   Sexual dysfunction common for men with hepatitis C   Genital herpes can spread despite lack of symptoms   Sex and lifespan linked in worms: a family of sugar-like molecules controls both   Increased age of sexual consent in Canada may not protect teens at greatest risk: UBC study   Testosterone Patch Benefits Women with Low Sexual Desire   Gender Affects Perceptions of Infidelity   More youngsters having unsafe sex, study shows   Chlamydia common in young pregnant women

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]