Extend your Sex Life, Die with AIDS

The popularity of erectile dysfunction drugs are partially responsible for the rise in HIV infection among the “over 50” set, says a new study in the World Health Organization’s bulletin on Tuesday.

But those in their “twilight years” are often misdiagnosed because they are assumed not to be “at risk” for HIV. About 11 percent of new HIV diagnoses in the United States belong to those over fifty. This is a “surprisingly high” figure, says the report, and yet this statistic has been totally ignored. As a result, doctors seldom test the aged for HIV, because they see them as a “low risk” group. This ensures a more rapid progression to AIDS in these patients, and more opportunity for them to unknowingly spread the virus to their sex partners. And they do have sex partners. According to the study:

Since 1998, erectile dysfunction drugs have been extending the sex life of many older individuals and, at the same time, may be extending the HIV epidemic into older age groups.

With this rise in sexual activity comes a rise in HIV infection, says the study, because the aged are less likely to have “protected” sex than are younger people.