You Need to Be Alive to Have Problem Sex

A recent survey found that most people over the age of 40 are sexually active, but that problems are common:

A global survey of sex behavior after age 40 reveals that most people continue to have sex. However, aging romantics tend to encounter problems in their lovemaking.

An international group of researchers found that 80 percent of men ages 40 to 80 said they had sex within the last year, as did 65 percent of similarly aged women. Moreover, 38 percent of women and 44 percent of men said they had sex more than once per week.

Sexual activity was particularly high for men and women in their 40s, but tapered down with increasing age.

"The majority of people do report that, if they do have partners, they are involved sexually," Dr. Edward O. Laumann told Reuters Health.

Laumann and his team also found that around one-quarter of men reported some type of sexual problem, most commonly early ejaculation and erectile difficulties. Sexual problems were reported most commonly by Asian men.

Among women, nearly 40 percent said they experienced an acknowledged problem with sex, most commonly lack of sexual interest, inability to reach orgasm, lack of enjoyment, and lubrication problems. Women in Asia and the Middle East reported the highest proportion of problems.

Of course, if you happened to live in 1904, your over-40 problems would've had less to do with sex and more with being alive:

The average life expectancy in the US was 47 years.

Only 14 percent of the homes in the US had a bathtub.

Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.

We still have a lot of work to do to improve people's lives and health, but it's amazing to see how far we've come in just 100 years.