Sex and Aging Among Men and Women

1. Introduction/Purpose

Sex and ageing is an areas of great concern in human development. Sexuality can be termed as the way individuals experience and express themselves sexually. Sexuality involves identity, actions, desires and feelings and can encompass various types of stimulation and physical touch. Sex is a crucial element of intimacy. Intimacy relates to connectedness and closeness in a relationship, which can take place without the physical aspects. Sex and sexuality are among the aspects of human beings significantly affected by ageing. Ageing leads to life transitions that can bring opportunities for different older individuals to effectively redefine what intimacy and sexuality mean to them. Whereas changes in sex, intimacy and sexuality are constant as people get older, individuals are affected differently.

Sex and ageing has different effect on older people. Some older people strive for intimacy and sexual relationship; some are content with each other, while others may avoid such connections. According to the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the normal ageing process can contribute to changes impacting sex (Gubbels et al., 2018). Sexuality significantly changes with age; for instance, in females, menopause leads to massive changes in sexual desire. On the other hand, males experience issues such as erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation and enlarged prostrate, all of which have adverse effects on sex and intimacy.

In addition to changes that directly affect the reproductive systems, older people undergo other changes that impact their sexual health. For example, physical changes such as muscle loss and weight gain affect how they feel in their respective bodies. Further, medical treatment procedures such as surgery, medications, disability and illness can also affect intimacy and sexual desire. Since the older population makes up a significant percentage of the US population, any factor affecting their health and well-being should concern the entire country. Contrastingly, little is known regarding the effects of old age on sexual functions and behaviours and how this affects the population’s general welfare. Thus, ageing and sexuality are critical issues of concern, making it imperative to deeply examine the topic of sex and ageing among the elderly population.

2. Literature Review

The population of older adults is growing in most parts of the world due to increased life expectancy and enhanced healthcare during old age. According to Shin et al. (2021), the trends pose challenges for policymakers and healthcare providers, who are constantly confronted with the reality of old age, such as expectations associated with sex and ageing. Research suggests that sexual activity in the elderly is associated with illness and essential health-related outcomes (Hägg & Jylhävä, 2021). For instance, older adults with bad health or medical conditions are less likely to be sexually active and thus have sexual problems. Moreover, most older adults are constantly faced with an illness that requires medical attention. The medication usually contributes to severe sexual side effects like erectile dysfunction, reduced sexual desire and delayed orgasm.

The development of older adults is usually marked with various normative changes concerning sexual functioning due to other health challenges. The normative sexual changes that older adults experience are erectile dysfunction and menopause. These normative sexual changes are closely related to diseases such as arthritis, depression, diabetes, stroke and heart disease. In addition to the mentioned sexual conditions, old age affects the sexual cycle in older men and women. However, the cycles are experienced in various lenses and extents. For instance, the arousal aspect of the sexual cycle is majorly affected by age (Gurvich et al., 2018). In women, the arousal cycle reduces as a result of the decreased estrogen levels after the onset of menopause.

In older men, the refractory time is usually affected. This implies that they require a longer duration after the organism to regroup before engaging in sexual activity to experience another orgasm. However, the refractory phase in women does not exist. In addition, the orgasm phase in women is not affected by ageing. As for the arousal phase, both men and women have a challenge as they age. For example, men require a longer duration of sustained stimulation in order to reach orgasm. A study by Fischer & Riddle (2018) assessed older married couples. The study established that only 4 out of 30 participants mentioned that sex was not essential. Therefore, there is a level to which sex is viewed to be of significance as people age.

3. Method

In order to get an overview of the overall literature concerning sex and ageing, a narrative review of the literature was carried out. The search was performed and aimed at finding various literature on sex and ageing. The review used peer-reviewed journals published within 5 to 10 years. To systematize the literature search, thematic study areas were established from the keywords (Sinković & Towler, 2019). During the search, many articles relevant for review were presented. The literature search availed valuable insights concerning sex and ageing among adults. Significant results were obtained from the articles used.

4. Results

Sex and Aging in Women

The literature search on sex and ageing established that older women have sex-related problems. The major common sexual challenge reported was a lack of interest in sexual activities, difficulty attaining orgasm and dryness during copulation (Agronin, 2022). Age is a vital indicator of a majority of female sexual challenges. Therefore, the most women age, the more their sexual desire diminishes.

Sex and Aging in Men

The prevalence of sexual challenges among men increases with age. The articles found that some significant challenges affecting men are reduced sexual desires and erection problems. These problems affect men between the ages of 55 and 70 (Márquez et al., 2020). Another challenge realized was difficulty maintaining an erection, reaching orgasm, genital pain and premature ejaculation. These aspects were found to increase among men aged 70 years and beyond.

5. Discussion

The results support that sex and ageing are significant challenges among different human groups. In the case of an ageing population, both men and women experience sexual challenges as they age. In the contemporary world, chronic severe illness and greater life expectancy among older adults contribute to severe effects on sex among men and women. The impact of chronic illness on sexuality can be direct through the vascular process, discomfort and neurophysiological. It can also be indirect through mental issues such as depression and anxiety. Lastly, the consequences of surgical procedures or medication as people age play a central role in sexual health among the older population. This is evidenced by the fact that some medicines, such as the ones used to manage depression, negatively impact sexual health.

Sexual dysfunctions lead to distress among the patients and their partners. Research majoring in distress has established that older women having sexual difficulties have less distress than younger women. However, there is always some level of distress that affects their mental health and their overall welfare. On the other hand, men have been found to be more affected by sexual challenges than women. This may be attributed to the fact that sexual challenges in men are more severe. Like women, sexual challenges caused by old age lead to deteriorating mental health that affects all other spheres of life. To reduce the effect of sexual challenges on the older population, health professionals should address how older individuals can cope with significant sexual health-related challenges. This will help the affected population live a relatively everyday life amidst poor sexual health and reduced sexual activities.

References

Agronin, M. E. (2022). Sexuality and ageing. The American Psychiatric Association Publishing Textbook of Geriatric Psychiatry, 399.

Fischer, K. E., & Riddle, N. C. (2018). Sex differences in ageing: genomic instability. The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, 73(2), 166-174.

Fischer, K. E., & Riddle, N. C. (2018). Sex differences in ageing: genomic instability. The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, 73(2), 166-17

Gubbels Bupp, M. R., Potluri, T., Fink, A. L., & Klein, S. L. (2018). The confluence of sex hormones and aging on immunity. Frontiers in immunology, 9, 1269.

Gurvich, C., Hoy, K., Thomas, N., & Kulkarni, J. (2018). Sex differences and the influence of sex hormones on cognition through adulthood and the aging process. Brain sciences, 8(9), 163.

Hägg, S., & Jylhävä, J. (2021). Sex differences in biological aging with a focus on human studies. Elife, 10, e63425.

Marais, G. A., Gaillard, J. M., Vieira, C., Plotton, I., Sanlaville, D., Gueyffier, F., & Lemaitre, J. F. (2018). Sex gap in aging and longevity: can sex chromosomes play a role?. Biology of sex differences, 9, 1-14.

Márquez, E. J., Chung, C. H., Marches, R., Rossi, R. J., Nehar-Belaid, D., Eroglu, A., … & Ucar, D. (2020). Sexual-dimorphism in human immune system aging. Nature communications, 11(1), 751.

Shin, S., Nam, H. Y., Lee, M. J., Pak, K., Kim, K., & Kim, I. J. (2021). Effect of sex on aging-related decline of dopamine transporter in healthy subjects. Annals of Nuclear Medicine, 35, 76-82.

Sinković, M., & Towler, L. (2019). Sexual aging: A systematic review of qualitative research on the sexuality and sexual health of older adults. Qualitative Health Research, 29(9), 1239-1254.