The study released today says that even in one's 80s, if a man or a woman has a partner, a large number of people are still having sex. What do you think?
Dr. Ruth: I should hope so. Are you suprised? Older people have time, they actually have money, and if they are sexually literate, they listen to a conversations like this and know to do it in the morning and not after a few drinks.
In the mornings?
Dr. Ruth: In the mornings, testosterone level is highest. And for women after menopause, use a lubricant.
Where do you think the idea came from that older people stopped having sex?
Dr. Ruth: It used to be some people thought that when a women went through menopause, she wasn't interested anymore. That's nonsense. There was this attitude that if a man is starting to have a little bit of a belly, or if a woman's arms are sagging a little bit, if the figure didnt look the way it did before -- that it would mean the end of sex.
People are getting older, people are getting healthier. It is true that there are more widows than widowers, and that is a big problem... but everybody who can be should be involved in sex as often as they can.
Why did it take so long to talk about sex?
Dr. Ruth: I'll tell you why it took a long time. First of all, we live in a puritan society. We still do. There is more openness now. We have to say "thank you" to Mr. Bob Dole, he's really courageous for going on television with a commercial and say that he's using, with his physician's permission, Viagra. And while Viagra is a fantastic pharmaceutical breakthrough if prescribed by a physician, I don't want everyone to go out and get Viagra from a friend. It has to be prescribed.
Fortunately, science has provided us with better health, better nutrition, -- everything that we can use we now have to make the best of these years. And the best of these years cannot be had without sex.