TUESDAY, Sept. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Older widowers who recently
lost their wives are more likely to have a sexually transmitted disease
than their counterparts who are still married, a new study has found.

The researchers behind the study add that drugs like Viagra could boost
the risk, noting the widowers might be seduced by advertisements for
sexual enhancement.

The risk that seniors have a sexually transmitted disease remains
extremely low, at less than 1 percent, study co-author and Harvard
researcher Kirsten Smith explained in a news release about the study.

"Nonetheless," Smith said, "older adults need to be aware that they are
at risk of contracting a sexually transmitted infection if they take on a
new sexual partner following a spouse's death."

The researchers examined data from more than 400,000 U.S. couples, who
were aged 67 to 99 years in 1993.

Within six months to a year after their wives died, men were 16 percent
more likely to be infected with a sexually transmitted disease. And for
recently widowed men, the risk of having a sexually transmitted disease
rose by 83 percent after 1998. That's the year that Viagra went on the
market as a treatment for erectile dysfunction.

"For men ages 67 and older, the age group that we studied, the use of
medications for erectile dysfunction may contribute to that risk by making
sex possible," Smith said.

Gonorrhea was the most common STD in the men, the study authors noted.

The study appears in the Sept. 17 online edition and the November print
issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

More information

Learn more about sexually transmitted diseases from the American Academy of Family Physicians.