ONE OF the downsides of a youth- oriented society is that it assumes older people are not sexual beings. But many older people may consider sexual activity and its associated feelings to be a natural part of later life. Last year, for example, a survey published in the British Medical Journal found that the self-reported quantity and quality of sexual experiences among 1,500 Swedish 70 year olds had improved over a 30-year period ( Beckman et al 2008 ).