Data revealed by a recent study indicates that individuals who are sexually active before a heart attack tend to be less sexually after recovering especially if they don’t discuss their worries with their doctors.

In a survey of heart attack patients, only about half of all men and 1 of every 3 women said their cardiologist talked to them about it before they were discharged from the hospital. The research also showed that only about 40% of men and 1 in 5 women reported any discussion about the issue with a doctor in the 12 months after their heart attack .

The study also shows that the frequency of sexual activity declined for both men and women during the year following a heart attack.

The study adjuested for multiple variables, and the researchers found that men were about 30 percent more likely and women were 40% more likely to report a reduction in sexual activity when their doctors didn’t discuss it with them after their heart attack.

One of the lead researchers,Stacy Tessler Lindau, MD, said “We found that one important difference between people who did and did not resume sexual activity after a heart attack was whether their doctor discussed the issue with them at hospital discharge.”

Most people don’t know that they can safely resume normal sexual activity within a few weeks after having an uncomplicated heart attack, as long as they feel up to it and are able to engage in other moderate activities.

But many people feel anxiety that attempting sex will cause another heart attack. Even when the patient isn’t concerned, their partners sometimes are.

But the risk is so small it could be considered negligible, Dr. Murray A. Mittleman of Harvard Medical School. But Dr. Mittleman also warns that “Exercise is very important following a heart attack for all sorts of reasons, and this is one more. Exercise virtually eliminates the risk of having a heart attack associated with sexual activity.”

Frank Discussions Are Important

The research included close to 1200 men and almost 600 women who were surveyed one month and then one year after having a heart attack. The average age of the men was 59 and the average age of the women was 61.

Heart attack patients who talked about sex with their doctors were more likely to have sex during the following year.

Lindau says some doctors are reluctant to bring up the subject of sex with their heart patients, especially if those patients are older. They sometimes assume, incorrectly, that there is no need.

Patients also tend to worry about loss of libido or sexual satisfaction caused by depression or heart medications, which are common concerns among those who have heart health issues - especially those who have heart disease or have suffered a heart attack.