STD’s are on the Rise for Grandparents
STD’s are rising and for once it does not have anything to do with teenagers. According to a new study published in the Student British Medical Journal, sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise in the older generations of people. Not only that, but the study also revealed that 80 percent of people between the ages of 50 and 90 are sexually active.
This is amusing to many people and may be a little bit too much information for others, but it gives health providers something to think about. They are going to have to try to educate an older generation on the importance of safe sex. This should start with checkups, especially with people living in retirement homes as STD’s have doubled in the last ten years.
Diseases such as syphilis and chlamydia have increasingly been on the rise in the past several years. In 2010, the Center for Disease Control reported that there were 2,056 syphilis cases reported for the age group 45 to 54 and 493 for the age group 55 to 64. Chlamydia had 16,106 and 3,523 cases reported for the age groups respectively. The rise was also not contained to any one country. The United States, Canada, and Great Britain all showed staggering rises.
Some theories behind the rise have to do with increasing Viagra use and the fact that many people living in retirement homes are singles. They are basically like teenagers on parade in these places and more power to them; however, many of these people may not have been given the full list of dangers that comes with having unprotected sex. Students now-a-days usually cannot graduate school without having a health class or two that will give them the full visual of what these diseases can do. Many Baby Boomers can probably say that it was probably close to illegal to show that when they were in school.
There is no clear reasoning behind the increase in the STD rise in the older generations, but there is a way of helping to stop it in its tracks. Doctors at facilities can start making sure that all residents have condoms supplied in their rooms. They could also have someone on staff to discuss these diseases with those that live at community homes. That way if these people do start getting lonely at night, they will not also catch or spread a disease to the entire community. Maybe the kids or gran kids could also drop off some protection.
