A study just out in the peer-reviewed "British Medical Journal" says that the elderly are having sex more often, possibly due to the popular cialis , levitra, viagra pills for erectile dysfunction.

Researchers interviewed 1,500 70-year-old Swedes at various times over a 30-year period starting in 1971. In the last sampling at the beginning of this decade--a few years after Viagra was on the market--only eight percent of the men reported having ED compared to 18 percent who said they had it back in the mid-1970s when the problem had a bigger stigma attached to it and might have been taboo to talk about and underreported.

In 2000, two-thirds of the study participants said they had a high level of sexual satisfaction, a substantial increase from the mid-70s. The researchers say they can't say for sure if the new drugs like cialis (tadalafil) and levitra (vardenafil) are responsible for that.

An editorial to go along with the Viagra study says the findings should convince doctors to not be shy about talking to their elderly patients about their sex lives.