Few Doctors Advise Patients to Continue Sex After Heaet Attack

A new study has revealed that most people who suffer from a heart attack do not get proper sexual counseling from their health care provider. Only a small per cent of heart patients are advised by their doctors that it is safe to resume normal sexual activity after a heart attack, reported Reuters.

"The guidelines say for an uncomplicated heart attack people should be able to resume normal sexual activity after a week," said lead author Dr. Stacy Tessler Lindau, director of the Program in Integrative Sexual Medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Researchers noted that patients were often unaware if they went through a mild heart attack, which is known to not cause complications on other organs. Patients are generally afraid to have sex in fear that it will trigger another heart attack.

The American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association and European Society of Cardiology all support a relatively quick return to sexual activity after an uncomplicated, or "minor," heart attack, writes Reuters.

To find out if patients are receiving proper sexual counseling, the researchers polled about 3,501 heart attack patients in about 127 hospitals in Spain and the U.S. between 2008 and 2012.

Results showed that only 12 per cent of women and 19 per cent of men discussed sex with their doctors and only a third of this number were told they could resume normal sex activity. The rest were told to limit sex, to be more passive or to keep their heart rate down.

"It could be that the physicians who are motivated to raise the issue are especially cautions throughout and thinking of all potential risk to their patient after a heart attack," Lindau said of these findings.

Patients should also be more proactive. If their doctor fails to raise the issue, they should initiate the discussion to find out if it is advisable to resume with normal sexual activity, according to New Hampshire Voice.

"Sexual function is a basic part of human physical function," Lindau said. "If it's not working - unlike a missing hand - the rest of the world can't see it, but it's crucial."

The study was published in the journal Circulation.