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Pelvic exercises do improve persistent incontinence

A controlled study in Montreal has found clear evidence that post-pregnancy persistent incontinence is alleviated by a program of pelvic floor exercise. Contrary to recent advice from many therapists, deep abdominal exercises don't provide any added benefit.

Interestingly, pelvic floor muscle strength isn't actually increased by doing the pelvic floor exercises, so it's not clear how the benefit is gained. The researchers think that the improvement may come about because women become more conscious of the pelvic floor muscles as a result of the exercise program.

Read more about the benefits of pelvic exercise

Love, Sex & Intimacy:

The WHO International Conference on Healthy Ageing and Longevity says a satisfying sex life (with a partner or through self-love) helps you to stay healthy by:

- keeping your body juicy

- boosting your estrogen & testosterone levels

- and, with a good diet, helps you live longer.

So ----have sex 4 times a week and feel 10 years younger;

Don't let your love-life slip;

Even if you don't have a partner ---- self-love.

A woman who's allergic to sex

A thirty-four year-old British woman has a problem. Every time the mother of two has sex with her husband, she breaks out in hives on her stomach and vagina, gets splitting headaches, hot flashes and asthma-like attacks of shortness of breath. The reason: she's allergic to his sperm . . . and to latex. No, say the docs, she doesn't have an advanced case of neurosis or worse. It's biological. Or maybe not. Because she didn't have allergies at all until she went through a very stressful divorce 4 years ago. First she developed allergies to wheat and gluten. Then her hair began falling out. Finally, the Big One -- allergic to sex. But, she says, her allergies have brought her and her 39-year-old husband closer together. And, "without going into detail it's fair to say we have a healthy sex life, but we have to be more creative than other couples."

Maintain a sexual relationship with your spouse as you get older (just like Grandma and Grandpa probably did). "Without sex," says one sex therapist, "[people] are basically on parallel courses and there is nothing to connect them." According to a survey by the National Council on Aging in the US, about 25% of men and women aged 75 and older still engage in sexual activity at least once a week. This is down from 60% of people between the ages of 45 and 59 who are sexually active. The big challenge is coming back to sexuality from health setbacks like menopause or erectile dysfunction, often as a result of illness. The good news is that other forms of intimacy can substitute for intercourse, like kissing, sleeping naked together, or even simply snuggling.