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Even Grandmas Get STDs

Your grandma is loving and doting. She spoils you when you visit. She lavishes you with her cookies and coffee cakes. Perhaps she’s even knitting you a sweater.

There’s also a chance that grandma is still rockin’ the sheets at night, or during that afternoon “toes-up” time. This may come as a shocker—you mean my Grandma? But studies show it’s true.

Though statistics on the sexual habits of older women are scarce, data collected by researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health shows that among women ages 60 to 94, 34 percent of married women and 4 percent of non-married women report having had sexual activity in the past three months.

So why should we care what the older set is doing in its romantic life? These activities have made some unsuspecting women more susceptible to getting an STD—especially HIV, the precursor to AIDS.

“Lots of times the assumption is that women in older age groups aren’t sexually active, or that they are in a stable long-term partnership with lower risk,” says Dr. Divya Patel, the study’s lead author and a researcher in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Michigan. “In the past, you didn’t consider people who are 70 or 80 having sex. Now more couples are able to have intercourse over a longer period of time, due to drugs like Viagra and Cialis, so sexuality is extended into later parts of life, or in some couples it has returned. The main thing to note is that women in the older age group do engage in these behaviors that increase their risk of STDs.”

In fact, in 2005, 15 percent of all new HIV diagnosis was among men and women over the age of 50, according to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control. (The data does not differentiate between genders.) The CDC suggests that the number of older people newly diagnosed with HIV has stabilized—but data collected from small pockets of research around the country suggest the opposite.

“When you speak specifically about older people, there are a couple of problems with interpreting the data,” says Dr. Aletha Akers, assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “We don’t have detailed or accurate statistics for the older population—a lot of data just isn’t there. But of the data that is available through the Centers for Disease Control, it appears that HIV rates among older people are stable. There have been some specific cities and counties around the country that have more detailed statistics that show HIV rates among their older population is rising.”

Data are limited about other STDs in the older population since STD testing is not routinely performed. “[Older women] do get other STDs, but in a much smaller proportion compared to other age groups,” says Akers. Statistics show small but noteworthy numbers for STDs such as gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis and HPV in women in their 40s and 50s, says Akers.

Surprising Ways to Stop HIV

With a disproportionate number of prisoners infected with HIV and hepatitis C, our nation’s prisons are poised to become the next front line in the battle against infectious diseases. Here’s why prisoner health matters for everyone.

Unless you or someone you love has been incarcerated, it’s easy to think that the health of prisoners is irrelevant to your life and health.

However, the high percentage of prisoners infected with contagious diseases like HIV and hepatitis C makes proper diagnosis, education, and treatment an issue of concern for all of us.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that more than 6 percent of people in the United States (and more than 18 percent of African-Americans) will be incarcerated at some point during their lifetime. Almost all of these people will eventually be released back into the community, where they can pass contagious diseases on to others.

“The period just after an inmate is released from prison is an extremely risky time,” says Dr. Timothy Mastro, an HIV expert with the Centers for Disease Control. “For many former prisoners, the first thing they’ll do when released is seek sex and use drugs.”

Since every new case of infection has the potential to ripple through society at large, this is an issue that ultimately impacts all of us. Fortunately, diagnosis, education, and proper medical care while incarcerated can significantly reduce the chances that former prisoners will spread life-threatening diseases when they are released.

In addition, fewer new cases of infectious diseases, coupled with treatment for those already affected, could reduce overall health costs—and provide great medicine for our overburdened health care system.

HIV in Prisons

The CDC estimates that roughly 0.4 percent of Americans are infected with HIV. Rates of HIV in the prison system, however, are much higher: 2.3 percent of women and 1.7 percent of men in prison are HIV-positive.

Reducing Rates of Transmission

“With an infectious disease like HIV, one of the key strategies is to stop transmission. To do this, we try to identify people who are HIV infected,” explains Mastro. “Once people know they are infected, prevention programs can help them learn how to dramatically decrease risky behaviors so they don’t pass the infection along to others.”

In fact, the data shows that knowing your HIV status is an effective tool for controlling the spread of the disease. According to a study by the CDC, those who don’t know they are HIV-positive are at least three times more likely to spread the disease than those who do know.

Prisons can provide a great opportunity for routine testing. But while some prisons routinely test all new prisoners for HIV, there is no national law requiring this and practices vary from state to state.

That’s too bad, because knowledge of HIV status can not only helps reduce risky behavior, it’s also the critical first step towards receiving proper drug treatment. Such treatment not only benefits the individual, but also society as a whole, since proper drug treatment reduces viral load—and lower viral loads are associated with lower rates of transmission.

HIV

HIV

HIV has killed millions of people worldwide, and infected many more since it was first identified as a threat to public health more than 20 years ago.
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