Does old age make you lose sex drive?

A drastic fall can be observed in the amount of sex people have as they grow older. Lack of sex drive is not the reason behind this drop, a research revealed.

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This study was carried out by the researchers from Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Reproduction and Gender.

The researchers observed a significant drop in the amount of sex the participants had as they grew old. It is believed old age is one potential reason that hinders the healthy sex life of people by making them feel less attractive, but this doesn't mean that their sex drive has slowed down.

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Psychological factors such as "feeling old" and harbouring negative stereotypes about advanced age can be responsible for this but not all older people let their sex life get impacted by these features.

"The basic story line that has emerged from these studies is that, as we get older, our odds of developing chronic health conditions increases and this, in turn, negatively impacts the frequency and quality of sexual activity," revealed Dr Justin Lehmiller of Kinsey Institute.

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Around 1,170 people who were over 40 years of age were surveyed and the study was published earlier this year in the Journal of Sex Research. These two surveys were conducted with a gap of 10 years.

The participants were asked to partake and complete two surveys regarding their sex life and how sexually active they were. Apart from this, the researchers even asked the participants to reveal their age, their wish to have sex and how frequently they actually did it.

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"Perhaps not surprisingly, frequency, quality and interest in sex all declined over that ten-year period," Dr Lehmiller stated. Also, consistent with past research, those who remained in better health tended to maintain more active and satisfying sex lives."

"It turned out that neither of them were related to changes in how often people had sex; however, feeling older predicted less interest in sex over time, as well as lower levels of sexual satisfaction. In addition, feeling positively toward older adults was linked to maintaining higher levels of sexual satisfaction in the future," Dr Lehmiller concluded.