By the end of 2005, more than 20% of persons living with AIDS were 50 years of age or older.

“What’s really frightening, says Gary Geyer, Editor of 50plus Online Magazine, is that risk factors are expected to increase in the coming years with the aging of the Baby Boom generation and their generational mindset related to drug use and sexuality.”

50plus Online Magazine (www.50plusMag.com) points out that since HIV symptoms often are similar to those associated with aging (fatigue, weight loss, dementia, skin rashes, and swollen lymph nodes), misdiagnosis occurs more frequently in older people who are, in fact, infected.

While men who have sex with men form the largest group of AIDS cases in the over-50 population, the number of cases in women infected heterosexually have been on the rise at a higher rate.

In a related and linking article called, “HIV and Older Women,” 50plus Online Magazine said that in the last decade, AIDS cases in women over 50 were reported to have tripled.

The article explains that after menopause, condom use for birth control becomes unimportant, and normal aging changes such as a decrease in vaginal lubrication and thinning vaginal walls can put them at higher risk during unprotected sexual intercourse.

”The sad part”, says Geyer, “is that because of the general lack of awareness of HIV/AIDS in older adults -- in particular, women -- this segment of the population, for the most part, has been omitted from research, clinical drug trials, educational prevention programs and intervention efforts.”

In addition to the article concerning HIV/AIDS, this month‘s edition of 50plus Online Magazine features several other interesting articles relevant to the 50+ audience. They all can be accessed from the homepage (www.50plusMag.com).

- Relationships - Dating After Fifty

- 50plus People - Anthony Hopkins: Living The Life

- Retirement: - Six Secrets of a Successful Retirement

- Travel – Killing Kilimanjaro. Or Was Kilimanjaro Killing Me?

- Being 50plus – Finding Purpose in Mid-Life

- Brain Squeezer # 14: Do We Have to Spell it Out?

50plus Online Magazine (www.50plusMag.com) continues to be the most entertaining and informative source on the web for Boomers, Young Seniors and retirees. 50plus Online Magazine covers anything and everything having to do with 'being 50plus.'

Recent articles (that are still available on the site) have addressed:
- online dating
- gambling compulsions among retirees
- the joys and perils of golf
- being single and retired
- sex obstacles past 50
- the death of a grandchild
- growing old in prison
- age discrimination in the workplace
- Senior suicide
- sexual fantasies of those over 50
- adopting a child when you are past 50
- trophy wives
- older women dating younger men
- being ignored by advertisers
- anti-aging products
- senior divorce
- alcoholic retirees
- a 50plus sex quiz
- homophobia in retirement homes
- sugar daddies and the women who love them

Gary Geyer is founder, editor and publisher of 50plus Online Magazine as well as President and Creative Director of Alive & Kicking Advertising — a marketing company that specializes in the 50+ market.