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For men with ED, partners help with a cure
By Zhou Weirong and Mark South (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-03-02 05:37
SHANGHAI: In a world where sex and intimacy have become increasingly
separate, it is heart-warming to find one area at least where the two overlap
even if it is in the decidedly un-sexy realm of erectile dysfunction (ED).
Hong Kong, in February 2005. Hong
Kongers, once found to prefer work to sex, have become a little more
sexually active -- and picked up a few special interests along the way.
[AFP] |
According to the results of a
survey unveiled at a men's health forum in Shanghai this week, the most common
influence on Chinese men who made the decision to get treatment for ED was
talking the problem over with their partner.
The survey also found that, in Asia at least, as men's consideration for
their partners' sexual needs increased, so did the likelihood they would seek
help for ED.
Sponsored by German pharmaceutical giant Bayer, the worldwide survey
questioned almost 11,000 Asian men, including more than 4,000 from the Chinese
mainland and Taiwan.
Of the Chinese men over 40 interviewed, 4 per cent reported ED problems, and
of those between ages of 60 and 70, 11 per cent.
Increased discussion of sex within society was evident in the survey as 61
per cent of Chinese men seeking treatment for ED said they were encouraged to do
so by what they had seen or heard in the media or on the Internet.
But there's hint of suspicion that macho pride may have affected the survey's
findings: While 16 per cent of Western subjects questioned reported ED, in
Chinese subjects that figure is just 6 per cent.
Bayer has suggested the vast difference is due more to the reluctance of
Chinese men to face up to the problem rather than a real variation in incidence.
The survey's results were coupled with other findings that just 37.4 per cent
of Chinese men and 38.5 per cent of Chinese women are happy with their sex
lives.
The figures are a marked improvement from a study last year which put the
figure of sexual satisfaction at an aggregate of just 22 per cent for both
sexes, but still suggests many Chinese couples have little to whoopee about.
Sex surveys in the country have been a touchy subject since a 2004 Internet
based study by condom manufacturer Durex concluded Chinese people boasted an
average of almost 20 sexual partners.
The result was both acclaimed as evidence of China's growing sexual
liberalism and condemned as wildly inaccurate.
Last year's Durex study saw the figure cut to three partners.
Xia Guomei, a sexology expert with Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences told
China Daily that many sex surveys are not conducted scientifically and are often
based on subjective criteria.
"Sexual satisfaction is a feeling that is impossible to measure empirically.
There are so many factors that can influence sexual satisfaction and everyone
has a different frame of reference," she said.
Easy access to pornography means that more Chinese are comparing their own
sex lives to what they see in explicit videos and magazines, with many feeling
that reality does not live up to what they have seen, Xia explained.
"Men and women compare themselves with porn stars and as a result, they are
disappointed with their own sex lives."
Xia urged ED sufferers to seek treatment as they would if any other part of
their body was not working properly. She blamed the pressures of modern urban
living for some problems, saying that people living in smaller towns were
happier with their sex lives than those living in large cities.
And while the focus of studies has been on men's ability to perform, women
can and should play a key role in improving their own and their partners' sex
life, she added.
"It is impossible for a husband to have 365 new wives in a year, but he can
have one wife with 365 new attractions," she said.
 (China Daily 03/02/2006 page1)
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