Having sex doesn’t trigger heart attacks, study suggests
Just 3 of 438 heart attack patients had been sexually active in the previous hour
By Meghan Rosen
Sex: It’s just what the doctor ordered. For heart disease patients, at least.
Sexual activity probably doesn’t trigger many heart attacks, scientists report September 21 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. In fact, the study’s authors say, the benefits seem to outweigh the risk.
Dietrich Rothenbacher and colleagues at Ulm University in Germany analyzed sexual history data from 438 patients who had suffered a heart attack. In the hour before an attack, only 0.7 percent of patients — 3 people — had been sexually active.