STDs on the rise with boomers (and older)

Remember about a month ago when we reported on a survey about how boomers like sex? Well, apparently they like it a lot! Time is reporting on a new study from the Sexually Transmitted Infections journal that found that STD rates (not including HIV) among people over 45 have more than doubled in less than a decade.

Researchers point to myriad factors contributing to the rise in STD instances, among them a high midlife divorce rate and the ease of finding dates online. “What we have in this age group is a lot of people who are separated or divorced and seeking relationships. Sometimes they obtain them via the Internet, where they don’t know the person and they don’t know their sexual history,” says [an author of the study, Dr. Babatunde] Olowokure.

It sounds like the generation of free love has a problem on its hands. Do you think this study is legit? If you’re out on the prowl, does it make you want to be more careful? What do you think? 

Filed under: Boomers