Childhood puts everyone through their fair share of hardships, both socially and intellectually. And of those, perhaps none of them is more excruciatingly painful than sneaking downstairs for a snack late at night, only to overhear your parents having what can only be described as an "adult sleepover." Now, imagine that scenario, but you're not in your house - you're in a nursing home, and your parents are in every single room on your way to grab some pudding from the kitchen. Better? Well no, for a number of reasons, but in some ways, yes.

As reported by the Bangor Daily News earlier today, Maine's senior population has recently seen an explosion of intimate activity, perhaps even rivaling that of the night Titanic came out. With people living longer and healthier lives, the rise makes sense.

While it might not be fun to think about, this is actually a very healthy thing - a recent study published in the Chicago Tribune shows that that activity can seriously improve participants' senses of inspiration, alertness, enthusiasm and determination. Also, due to the age of our participants, pregnancy is not a concern.

However, what has medical experts worried is the lack of adequate protection that has come along with the recent boom, and the spread of STDs that go along with it. The BDN reports that Terry Marley-DeRosier, a women's health care nurse practitioner at the Mabel Wadsworth Center up in Bangor believes that the rise in spread of these diseases comes from the elderly's lack of knowledge about today's most effective methods.

While that information is readily available on the internet, if your grandmother is anything like mine in terms of technical aptitude, I'd imagine you wouldn't want the responsibility of having to explain it.

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