Sex After a Heart Attack? Rio de Janeiro Expert Suggests Possible After a Week; can Lower Risk of Death

• comments
• 
• 

After a heart attack, doctors often advise a patient to slow down with physical activities. However, a cardiologist claimed that the patient can resume having sex as early as one week after the attack.

Dr. Claudio Gil Soares de Araújo of the Instituto do Coração Edson Saad in Rio de Janeiro said that sexual activity after a heart attack can help the patient recover faster and reduce his risk of sudden death. "Heart patients are usually weak and depressed. Sexual activity can help them resume normal way of life," said Soares de Araújo via Daily Mail.

The doctor and his team properly advised many of their heart patients on how to resume with sex by first taking it slow with the kissing and touching and then eventually progressing to oral sex and masturbation, up to the actual intercourse. The doctor equated the intensity of the sexual activity to walking, brisk walking and running -- or exercises that, if done regularly, can give the person more energy.

He even said that taking sex-enhancing drugs like Viagra could be taken by patients who are not take nitrates medication. "They can perform better, they require less energy, they put less stress on the heart. So it's beneficial, it reduces the anxiety to perform well," he further told Daily Mail.

However, Soares de Araújo also cautioned for patients to first get assessed and cleared by their physician to ease their concerns. The American Heart Association noted that resuming sexual activity is indeed a major concern for those recovering from cardiovascular events. They think they could get another heart attack if they engage in sex. However, like Soares de Araújo, the organization said that sudden heart attacks don't commonly takes place during sex because the physical activity only happens within a short period.

Harvard Health stated that sexual activity actually involves mild to moderate physical exertion. Its risk to the heart is lower compared to when a person is shoveling snow. The medical site also pointed out that regular sex can actually improve a person's sexual function and cut down the risk of heart attack, thus bolstering Soares de Araújo's claims.

Meanwhile, the British Heart Foundation recommended having sex after a recovering patient is feeling "well enough" in four to six weeks. It also suggested to avoid sex before a heavy meal or alcohol, and to keep heart medications within reach as a cautionary measure.