Pulse
Sex and the Senior
Don’t assume your older patients aren’t sexually active. That might be the take-home message for physicians of an article published in the August 23 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. If nothing else, the report on the findings of a survey of more than 3,000 adults ages 57 to 85 years old provides evidence that sex isn’t just for the young.
The researchers from the universities of Chicago and Toronto reported that although the likelihood of being sexually active declined with age, more than half of even the oldest adults surveyed (75- to 85-year-olds) had sex at least two to three times a month.
Approximately half of the respondents also reported having at least one sexual problem. Patients who rated their health as being poor had even more sexual problems such as failure to achieve and maintain an erection for men or lack of desire and failure to achieve climax for women. Fourteen percent of men and 1 percent of women reported taking prescription medications or over-the-counter supplements to enhance their sexual functioning. Yet only 38 percent of men and 22 percent of women reported having discussed sex with a physician since the age of 50.
In an editorial about the article in the same issue, John H.J. Bancroft, M.D., of Indiana University, wrote, “Until recently, older adults tended to keep quiet about their sexuality because younger people assumed that they were not and should not be sexually active. Now the pendulum has swung, and the emphasis is increasingly on the sexuality of older adults and the provision of medical treatment to foster it.”
Americans Living Longer
A report from the National Center for Health Statistics released last month shows life expectancy for babies born in the United States is 79.9 years, the longest in history and 10 years longer than that for U.S. babies born in 1955.
Gains in treatment and prevention of the three leading killers—heart disease, cancer, and stroke—were cited as the primary reason for the record longevity. Between 2004 and 2005, the age-adjusted death rate from heart disease fell from 217 deaths per 100,000 to 210.3; the rate from cancer dropped from 185.8 to 183.8; and the rate from stroke declined from 50 to 46.6.
The report, which was based on 2005 data, contained some less-encouraging news as well. Racial disparities remain. Life expectancy for whites is 78.3 years but for blacks is 73.1 years. And the age-adjusted death rates for Alzheimer’s disease, the seventh leading cause of death, and Parkinson’s disease, the 14th leading cause, both increased approximately 5 percent between 2004 and 2005.
Putting the news into perspective is the fact that the United States still lags behind nearly 40 other countries in terms of life expectancy.
High-Fashion Hearing Help
The ads feature a tattooed beach volleyball player, an attractive former punk rocker, a hip orthopedic surgeon who also plays rugby, and a confident-looking police officer. All talk about colorful styles, discreet and sleek design, and their need for this “ultimate high-tech accessory.”
The product whose attributes they’re describing isn’t the iPhone or the latest iteration of the BlackBerry; it’s a new breed of digital hearing aid, or, rather, a “personal communication assistant.”
These hearing aids look like pieces of jewelry or Bluetooth devices, rather than the flesh-colored knuckle-shaped thing your father wore. Oticon’s Delta model, for example, has a triangular amplifier that comes in colors such as cabernet red, mother of pearl, racing green, and even leopard print.
The amplifier sits behind the ear and is connected by a thin wire to a speaker in the ear canal. Phonak’s Audeo model has a similar design that comes with changeable color skins.
Marketed to aging baby boomers in high-end publications such as Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, the devices don’t come cheap. Prices for the Audeo and Delta models list for between $2,500 to $3,000 per aid.
Workouts for the Aging Brain
You can teach your old brain new tricks—or at least to remember where you put the car keys.
A 2003 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that people age 75 and older who participated in leisure activities such as reading, playing board games, playing musical instruments, and dancing faced a reduced risk of dementia. Other research has shown that the brain continues to develop new cells and pathways throughout life.
As a result, an industry has developed around “cognitive training products”—games and activities designed to help elders keep their mental edge by improving their listening skills, ability to follow instructions, and capacity for remembering lists. Companies such as Nintendo, MyBrainTrainer, Posit Science Corporation, CogniFit, and Dakim have created brain-building games and exercises that can be played on a home computer or hand-held system.
Are such activities better than learning a language or playing cribbage? At this point no one knows. However, an article published in the August 3, 2006, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences described how 93 percent of a group of adults ages 60 to 87 who used Posit Science’s Brain Fitness Program for 40 hour-long sessions showed an increase in their auditory-processing speed. The software uses repetitive, progressively difficult activities to build brain plasticity.