A Heart Attack Does Not Mean a Person’s Sex Life Ends

According to new research, many heart attack survivors kill their sex life for fear of suffering a heart attack during the act. Patients who did not talk with their doctor about the situation were more likely to put the brakes on their sex lives. Doctors often overlook the subject as well and forget to mention it in discharge orders.

Dr. Stacy Tessler of the University of Chicago led a study looking into the link between sex and heart attacks. The study involved 1,184 men and 576 women with an average age of 60. All the participants were heart attack survivors participating in another government funded study. Approximately a third of the women and less than half of the men were given advice about resuming sexual activity when they left the hospital. Even fewer of the heart attack survivors had the discussion with their doctors a year following their hospital release. After one year, two thirds of the men and about 40 percent of the women reported they participated in some sexual activity. About 30 to 40 percent of the ones who resumed sexual activity had spoken with their doctors about it.

Doctors agree that the amount of activity involved in a sex act is not usually enough to bring on a heart attack. If a person is concerned about it, they can increase their daily activity in an effort to get more in shape before attempting to resume sexual relations. The findings of this study are being presented at the American Heart Association meeting held in Washington D.C.