"The interest [in sex] is very high," said Hills, the gerontology specialist. "Just a few decades ago, older adults were interested but didn't think they were supposed to be thinking about 'such things.' If older adult men were interested, they were perverts. Now attitudes are different, and it's OK. People gather around the cocktail hour and say 'Yeah, I'm still interested in it.'"

The No. 1 reason women stop having sex is lack of a partner or lack of an able partner, Hills said, and for men it's health: drinking, back trouble, diminished range of motion, etc.

In spite of challenges, studies on sexual activity reported this year by the medical journal Geriatrics showed that 81.5 percent of subjects older than 50 were involved in one or more sexual relationships, including unprotected sex with prostitutes.

Although AIDS and HIV have changed the sexual landscape in the past two decades, older people are less likely to take precautions. In a study of Americans older than 50, 92 percent never used condoms, and 95 percent were never tested for HIV, Geriatrics reported.

And with the use of medications for erectile dysfunction, sexual activity in the older population has increased, which has facilitated the spread of HIV, Geriatrics reported.

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