Women over 45 still want it

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: Yes, our sex lives need help, but we’ll be damned if we tell anyone, say older women in a survey.
Although two thirds of Malaysian women above 45 experience discomfort during sex, only six per cent ever broach the subject with their doctors.
This puts doctors at the bottom of the list of confidantes, which include partners (18 per cent) and friends (seven per cent).
Over half the respondents said they have never talked about it to anyone at all.
Most accepted sexual dysfunction as an inevitable part of growing old or figured they could live with it.
But most think that better sex would put more zing into their lives.
Three out of five respondents believe that they would enjoy life more if they were doing well under the bedsheets.
Nearly half say that the shape of their sex lives had impact on their partners and quality of life, and almost two fifths said it affected their self-confidence.
The findings are from a Synovate Healthcare survey on 300 Malaysian women aged between 45 and 60. The survey was part of a bigger study on the responses of 1,000 women in Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand to menopause, breasts and sexual well-being.
Malaysian Menopause Society president Prof Nik Mohd Nasri Nik Ismail said that good sex was important to a woman’s well-being, no matter what her age.
An interesting find, said Dr Nik Mohd Nasri, was that Malaysians were nearly four times less likely to admit they were having a problem with sex compared to their Asian counterparts.
Only two out of 10 Malaysians admitted they experienced reduced libido compared to seven out of 10 overall in Asia.
"Fifty-six per cent answered ‘I don’t know’ to the question of whether their libido was reduced.
"My guess is, they were too shy to say ‘yes’."
To the question of whether they would talk about it if their doctor brought it up, there was a resounding ‘Yes’ from the majority of respondents.
"There are so many options out there that could help, if only doctors and patients would start talking."