Let’s talk about sex

Women can enjoy a healthy and active sex life well into their golden years, with just a bit of hormonal help and a few tips, according to a National Ageing Research Institute expert.

Honorary Professorial Fellow at NARI, Professor Lorrainne Dennerstein AO, will expose the great elephant in the room as she discusses what happens to sexual function when you age, at NARI’s biennial seminar on Active Ageing in Melbourne tomorrow.

After studying a cross section of 5,000 women up to 70 years old during the Melbourne Women’s midlife health project, the Professor and her team found that sexual function, arousal and enjoyment declines as a woman ages.

This decline relates to the lowering of estradiol, the predominant sex hormone present in females.

“There is a decline in all sexual function except masturbation,” Professor Dennerstein concluded.

The findings however did not only contain bad news, Professor Dennerstein said.

“Women who chose hormone replacement therapy maintained their sexual function and maintained significantly better scores relating to arousal and enjoyment. They also have less problems than those people who didn’t have hormone replacement therapy.

“There are risks and benefits with hormone replacement therapy but [choosing this path] is a personal decision, as some women have to take their medical history into account. Some women for medical reasons can’t have hormone replacement therapy and others don’t want to.”

Relationship factors are also key, she said. Those older women who fell in love, changed partners or changed their relationship experience an “overwhelming hormonal change”.

“If the hormonal decrement is negative and you fall in love it overwhelms your biology and has a huge effect on sexual function.”

While falling in love with someone new may not be an option for some older taken women, the Professor recommends reigniting your current relationship: “Maybe you can fall in love with the partner you’ve got again?”

She said that despite all the research and tips on how an older woman can improve her sexual function, most are just content with a slow or inactive sex life.

“Many talk about their partner and say, ‘I think of him now as more of a companion rather than as a lover’. They are less distressed about losing their sexual function unless they had a [high sexual function] because then they would know that they were missing something.”

“I think as we have increased numbers of people living longer, the question is what should they do to maintain their health and quality of life?

“We’ve learnt there is this decrement sexual function that comes about from changes in hormone levels, through menopause. But something can be done about that.”