Dr. Randal Thomas, director of the Cardiovascular Health Clinic at Mayo Clinic, says, “A person’s life is essentially thrown upside-down following a coronary attack. They see their frailty and how close they came to dying, and it can lead to a lot of psychological issues and need for recuperation.”
Another cardiologist, Dr. Nieca Goldberg, at Lennox Hill Hospital in New York City, says, “Female patients worry about increased heart rate and sweating during sex, after having a heart attack. Sex sidelines many patients after a coronary, especially women, and they have higher rates of depression.”
Goldberg explains that some patients simply give up sex after a heart attack and are too embarrassed to talk to their doctor about it.
So you’re getting a little frisky and wonder how long you have to wait before having sex? Guidelines, issued by The Princeton Consensus panel, state that sexual activity is too risky during the first two weeks after a heart attack, but that 70 percent of patients are at low risk for a coital heart attack and can resume sexual activity within three to four weeks. The other 30 percent may require further testing before being given the green light.
A study reported in the Journal of The American Medical Association followed 1,774 heart attack patients. It found that patients at highest risk only had a 20 in 1,000,000 chance of having a second heart attack during sex. This is certainly better than the odds of winning in Las Vegas. In fact, it claimed that anger was three times more likely, than sexual activity, to trigger another coronary attack.
Another study, at the University of Maryland, found that even men suffering from chronic heart failure could safely engage in sexual activity.
What actually happens in the real world? Some coronary patients never say die and have to prove their sexual prowess at the first opportunity. At a recent medical meeting, a speaker reported that one patient in a private hospital room had engaged in sex the day after the heart attack! That must be one for the Guinness Book of Records. It might also be one for a newspaper’s obituary page the next morning.
For the less adventuresome, sex after a heart attack is a worrying time. Some fear sudden death during or following intercourse. And you can bet that if the person who had the heart attack isn’t worried, his or her partner will be anxious. After all, who wants to be responsible for triggering a second coronary and possibly death in the bedroom?
This should neither be a major worry for most people nor a reason to put sex on the back burner. After all, studies show you don’t need the same energy as running in a marathon race. Experts say that intercourse expends about as much energy as walking two to three miles per hour or climbing two flights of stairs. So most people should just consider sex an enjoyable workout.
However, a word of caution because I have no desire to be responsible for death in the bedroom. Never use sex as a way to enter The Guinness Book of Records following heart attack. Moreover, if you’re planning a clandestine affair after a coronary attack, remember that studies show the stress associated with cheating increases the risk of heart attack. Nelson Rockefeller discovered that fact the hard way.
Finally, if you develop chest pain, an irregular heart rate, or excessive shortness of breath during sex, don’t push your luck. Stop and see your doctor.
Dr. Gifford-Jones is a medical journalist with a private medical practice in Toronto.
His Web site is Mydoctor.ca/gifford-jones
