Sex And Death, Also Heart Attack

Do I have your attention? Good. Because Tufts researchers who analyzed 14 studies of the cardiac effects of “episodic physical activity” recently found that it was associated with a short-term more than three-fold increase in heart-attack risk and five-fold increase in the risk of sudden cardiac death. And yes, as reported in the Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter, the “uncharacteristic physical activities” in the study included sex. Here, direct from the letter, is the bad news: “Episodic sexual activity was linked to nearly triple the risk of heart attack in a short window of time during and after the sexual activity as compared to time periods in which the individual was not sexually active. But such risks declined with regular physical activity (exercise, that is, not necessarily more-frequent sex), emphasizing the importance of staying in shape. For each additional time per week a person was “habitually active”—such as a regular workout session—the relative risk of a heart attack triggered by episodic physical activity dropped by about 45 percent. Risk of sudden cardiac death associated with episodic physical activity similarly fell by 30 percent for each weekly workout.”