Dame Judi Dench is championing sex for people in their 80s

Newsflash: people don’t stop having sex at 70 (or even 80!). Just ask Judi Dench.

The 82-year-old actress recently opened up about her personal life revealing that the older generation can still enjoy a healthy sex life and urging (bad choice of words?) her fellow 80 plus-ers to embrace their desires.

Speaking ahead of the release of her new film ‘Victoria and Abdul’, which explores intimacy amongst both the older and younger generation, the iconic actress told Radio Times that desire doesn’t diminish as you age.

“Well, of course, you still feel desire,” she said. “Does that ever go? To the older reader, I would say: ‘Don’t give up’.”

Following the death of her husband of 30 years, Michael Williams, in 2001, Dench has since found love with David Mills and recently revealed to Good Housekeeping that the romance has given her a new lease of life.

“One hot night during the summer we swam and had a glass of champagne in the garden and I said: ‘This is so fantastic’. I get overexcited about things. I love having a laugh,” she said.

And Judi Dench isn’t the only one who wants the world to know that your sex life doesn’t stop as the number of candles on the birthday cake go up.

Jane Fonda recently revealed that love and sex at almost 80 is better than ever. “First of all, we’re braver. What do you have to lose? So my skin sags…so does his,” The 79-year-old told The Hollywood Reporter.

“You know your body better, so you’re not afraid to ask for what you need. I think on a love-and-sex level, it just gets better.”

Need further proof that your granny and gramps are probably having more sex than you? Just look to science.

A 2009 study, National Social Life, Health and Ageing Project (NSHAP), conducted by a team of researchers at the University of Chicago, found that almost three quarters (74%) of women aged 75 to 85 believed satisfactory sex was essential to maintaining a relationship, while 72% of men felt the same.

The same study found that over a third of men (38%) and almost a fifth (17%) of women within this age bracket were sexually active. And why the hell not?

Turns out getting jiggy can have health benefits for the older generation too in terms of giving their brain a boost.

Researchers from Coventry and Oxford University in the UK have found a link between frequent sexual activity and improved brain function in older adults.

The study, published in in The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological and Social Sciences, involved quizzing 73 people aged 50-83 on how often, on average, they’d had sex over the past 12 months. Participants also answered questions about their general health and lifestyle.

The 28 men and 45 women also took part in a standardised test, which is typically used to measure different patterns of brain function in older adults, focussing on attention, memory, fluency, language and visuospatial ability.

Scientists found that people who had sex at least weekly scored higher on tests of cognitive function – and, more specifically, on tests that measured verbal fluency and visuospatial ability – than those who had sex less frequently.

Older folks rejoice!

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