According to recent surveys only 46 percent of men and 35 percent of women who have heart ailments discussed sex with their doctors. And year after they are first diagnosed with heart troubles, even fewer (about 40 percent of men and just 18 percent of women) ever talked about it.

A lot of heart-attack survivors who refrain from sex are doing so out of fear because they're not sure whether it's safe to have sex. Most of them worry it might trigger another heart attack or result in death. The fact is, sexual activity is a factor in less than 1 percent of heart attacks.

In general, mild to moderate sexual activity is safe a few weeks after an uncomplicated heart attack.

In a study that included about 1,200 men and 600 women with an average age of the participants was about 60, around 30 percent of men and 40 percent of women were having less sex than usual one year after their heart attack.

It seems that there is a need for doctors to open the door when discussing sexual activities with their heart-troubled patients. This problem of lack of communication seems to be more difficult when the doctor is male and the patient is female. Female doctors seems to be doing a better job of talking about sexual activity with their heart-impaired patients.

Of course the presence of FDA-approved drugs like Viagra also makes it easier for doctors to talk more about sex with men than with women. Similar treatments for women are limited.

But patients also need to speak up. Patients need to ask specific questions to their doctors even if it may sometimes prove to be a bit embarrassing.

Remember a heart attack doesn't not have to end your sex life. Talk to your doctor, now!

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 23rd, 2010 at 5:45 pm and is filed under Medical Research. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.