Women continue to be sexually active even as they age: Study

A recent study has revealed that sexually active middle-aged women do not lose interest in sex as they get older.

This and more from our round-up of the latest sex and health news stories from around the world

If you thought it was just men who loved having sex, results of a recent survey are likely to take you by surprise.

This and more in our round-up of the most interesting findings and news stories related to sex.

Read on and be enlightened!

We start with this report of a new study has found that middle-aged women who are sexually active are likely to carry on having sex for decades, suggesting that many of them do not lose interest in sex as they get older.

In fact, most middle-aged women do not stop having sex as they age even if they are diagnosed with sexual dysfunction, especially if sex is important to them, research has found.

A team of researchers based at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center recruited 602 women between the ages of 40 and 65 and asked them to report if they were sexually active, and how important they felt sex was in their lives, the Independent reported.

Lead author Dr Holly Thomas said that the results dispelled popular public perception that as women age, sex becomes unimportant, and that women stop having sex completely as they get older.

She said that from their study, it looks like most women continue to have sex during mid-life.

The study is published in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal.

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Interestingly, another survey has revealed that just 22 per cent of people over-50s are satisfied with their sex lives.

In the survey of 2,000 people, more than a third said that they 'unhappy' with their love lives, the Daily Express reported.

Fewer than 19 per cent said that they had sex more than once a week, while a third said that they no longer had sex or made love less than once a year.

The study -- carried out jointly by Relate and Mature Times newspaper -- found that nearly 50 per cent of over-50s do not talk to anyone about their sex lives even though a third believe that sex is still important.

Barbara Bloomfield, a Relate counsellor, said that it's easy to assume that sex decreases as we age as people lose interest, but the survey showed that sex and intimacy do remain really important.

She said that by talking to someone about issues in sex life, be they emotional or physical, most people can still enjoy intimacy well into later life.

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Miley Cyrus has said she doesn't understand all the fuss about twerking, as she feels it can be 'educational'.

The Wrecking Ball hitmaker defended her raunchy stage shows and insisted that it teaches her young fans about sex, the Mirror reported.

Cyrus added that she thinks it's crazy that sexuality is still considered offensive and wants girls to be more comfortable about it.