 LIFESTYLE CONTRAST
Americans still having sex in old age, Japanese births and marriages are declining, Chinese dying of passive smoke
For Americans, age is not a hindrance to sex
WASHINGTON
Ageing people in the United States have active sex lives, unrestrained by age-related sexual problems affecting around half of them.
"A majority of older Americans are sexually active and view intimacy as an important part of life, despite a high rate of 'bothersome' sexual problems," the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) said in a new study. The research found that sexual appetite declines only slightly between the ages of 50 and 70, with many men and women practicing vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and masturbation well into their 70s and 80s.
Researchers at the University of Chicago surveyed 3,005 people ages 57 to 85 in what experts said was the first study of its kind to focus on the growing ageing population in America. The study "suggests a previously uncharacterized vitality and interest in sexuality that carries well into advanced age," said Richard Suzman of the National Institute on Ageing.
Sexual activity was more common among older men than among older women. Half of those surveyed up to the age of 75 admitted to having oral sex, said the report published in the New England Journal of Medicine. More than half of men and a quarter of women admitted masturbating. Nearly three-quarters of those 57 to 64 years aold said they were sexually active. The figure dropped to just over half of those in the 65 to 74 age range, and a quarter of those 75 to 85.
The survey sheds light on the impact of physical health on people's sex lives, including sexual problems related to conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, and hypertension. Overall health, it found, was more important than age in boosting a person's sex life.
The research may also help promote health-education efforts to prevent sexually transmitted disease in older people. "Sexual activity among older adults poses risks for new cases of HIV, as approximately 15 percent of newly diagnosed HIV infections are among Americans over age 50," the study said.
About half of the sexually active older adults reported at least one "bothersome" sexual problem. More than a third of active men said they had erectile difficulties, and 43 percent of women reported "low desire."
Passive smoking to kill millions in China
PARIS
Chronic bronchitis and emphysema caused by passive smoking are set to kill nearly two million people in China who today are over 50, according to a study published in The Lancet. That toll more than doubles if one includes deaths from lung cancer and heart disease also inflicted by second-hand tobacco.
The study, led by K.K. Cheung and Peymane Adab of Birmingham University in Britain, found that people who had never smoked were 48 percent more likely to suffer chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) if exposed to heavy tobacco smoke. This was defined as 40 hours of exposure a week for more than five years in a workplace or home where colleagues or family members smoked.
On present trends, "of the 240 million people aged over 50 years alive today in China, high exposure to passive smoking would result in about 1.9 million excess deaths," the researchers conclude grimly. "In China, we are looking at something like 100,000 people dying a year from passive smoking, and about 45 percent of that will be from chronic lung disease," Cheung said. "The rest are from coronary heart disease and lung cancer."
The study, the largest of its kind ever undertaken in China, examined 15,379 nonsmokers-almost 90 percent of them women-in the southern city of Guangzhou. Citing a recent study by Beijing University, Cheung said passive smoking costs China US$3.8 billion in medical costs.
A separate study, also published in The Lancet, found the global incidence of noncancerous chronic lung disease is far higher than usually estimated. According to US researchers, around 10 percent of people aged 40 around the world have advanced COPD. This compares with previous estimates of four percent or less.
The new estimate was made by a team led by Sonia Buist of Oregon Health and Science University, who looked at the respiratory health of 9,425 people from 12 countries. The highest incidence (22.2 percent among men and 16.7 percent among women) was found in Cape Town, South Africa, possibly because of the effects of tuberculosis and occupational exposure. The lowest was in Hanover, Germany, where it was 8.6 among men and 3.7 percent among women.
Childbirth rate slips back in Japan
TOKYO
The number of births in Japan slipped back in the first half of this year, dashing hopes that the nation's fertility rate would improve thanks to a better economy.
For the whole of 2006, the number of births rose for the first time in six years, leading officials to say a recovering economy was leading to more marriages and children. But the number of babies born in Japan fell to 546,541 in the six months to June this year, down by 2,714 from the same period in 2006, according to health data.
The number of marriages also fell by 8,040 in the first half of this year, even though Japan's economy has kept expanding and the job market has been improving since last year.
Health officials are scratching their heads. "The number of marriages fell back after it kept rising until around February. We are having difficulty to think of any direct cause for the latest trend," said Sayuri Narahara, who is in charge of health statistics. "Speaking on a long term, childbirth [rates] are on a decline," she said.
Japan's population shrank by 22,474 people in the six months, a steeper fall than the decrease of 14,827 people recorded in the same term last year.
The fertility rate-the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime-had risen to 1.32 in 2006, up 0.06 percentage points from the record low of 1.26 in the previous year.
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