Libido and sexual performance Archive

Changes in the aging eye may alter your night vision, but a few strategies can help you take to the road with confidence.

If you're over 50, you may be wondering if you should restrict your driving to the daylight hours. You may have read that your night vision declines at this age, or you may have noticed a little difficulty seeing in dim light. You may find glare from headlights bothersome.

A woman’s use of a testosterone-based vaginal cream may have contributed to a spike in her husband’s prostate-specific antigen and testosterone levels after he had his prostate removed to fight advanced prostate cancer.

Long trips come with an increased risk of blood clots deep in the leg veins, which can have serious complications.

Few women realize how common pelvic prolapse is—and how easily treated. Here are five things you should know.

Two in three women over age 40 wake up at least once each night because of a full bladder, and nearly half make two or more nighttime trips to the bathroom. But only a quarter of women who get up to urinate during the night say they are bothered by having to do so.

That's the finding from a survey of more than 2,000 northern California women ages 40 and older. Factors that increased the likelihood that a woman woke at night to urinate included older age, past hysterectomy, hot flashes, and use of vaginal estrogen. However, the late-night bathroom breaks weren't caused by an overactive bladder or stress incontinence. The results were published in the January 2015 issue of the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Claiming to feel younger than your age isn't just whistling into the wind. It can also mean you have more years ahead than some of your former classmates. According to a report in the Dec. 15, 2014, issue of JAMA Internal Medicine, older people who felt three or more years younger than their chronological age had a lower death rate compared with those who felt their age or older.

Two researchers at University College London looked at the responses of about 6,500 men and women with an average age of 65 who answered the question, "How old do you feel you are?" About 70% reported that they felt three or more years younger than their years, while 25% felt close to their age, and 5% felt more than one year older than they were.

Keep hydrated, and empty your bladder often to stave off these risky infections.

Q. What are the most effective treatments for premature ejaculation? Do erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra help with this problem?

A. Premature ejaculation, usually defined as ejaculation within one minute of starting intercourse, is initially treated with behavioral techniques to delay climax. This includes the squeeze technique, which involves applying pressure just behind the head of the penis when ejaculation approaches and maintaining pressure until the
sensation passes. However, in many men, this doesn't prevent ejaculation.

Simple strategies can help you regain control.

As men age, the simple act of urinating can get complicated. Prostate surgery often leaves men vulnerable to leakage when they cough, sneeze, or just rise from a chair. Or the bladder may become impatient, suddenly demanding that you find a bathroom right now. "Thousands of years ago, it was not as much of an issue," observes Dr. Anurag Das, a urologist at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. "There were lots of trees, and you could just find one and go."

But tricky bladders can be whipped into shape. The first step is a careful assessment of what triggers those difficult moments. Then your doctor can suggest helpful strategies and possibly medication to improve urinary control.

Just as regular exercise has a host of health benefits for the body, staying mentally active appears to preserve memory and general sharpness. But for getting a good night's sleep, light workouts for both body and brain may be best, according to a study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

The study focused on 72 people, ages 67 to 79, who reported poor sleep as well as declining mental sharpness. They were assigned at random to do either strenuous aerobic exercise or a gentler stretching routine, paired with either watching educational DVDs (followed by short quizzes) or engaging in more demanding computer-based brain training.