Healthy sex-life increases long-term survival hopes for heart attack victims | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
July 19, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, JULY 19, 2025
Healthy sex-life increases long-term survival hopes for heart attack victims

Wellbeing

TBS Report
24 September, 2020, 09:10 am
Last modified: 24 September, 2020, 12:20 pm

Related News

  • 5 simple daily habits to help lower heart attack risk
  • Scientists develop breakthrough injection to repair damaged hearts
  • BCB security officer Ikram Chowdhury dies of heart attack at Sylhet stadium
  • Tamim has gone through ‘extremely critical period’
  • How can elite athletes also be at risk of heart attacks?

Healthy sex-life increases long-term survival hopes for heart attack victims

While sudden physical exertion, such as having sex, can trigger a heart attack, the long-term risk of heart problems is reduced by regular physical activity

TBS Report
24 September, 2020, 09:10 am
Last modified: 24 September, 2020, 12:20 pm
Maintaining or increasing the frequency of sexual activity boosts survival rates for heart attack patients, according to a new study. Photo: Shutterstock via CNN
Maintaining or increasing the frequency of sexual activity boosts survival rates for heart attack patients, according to a new study. Photo: Shutterstock via CNN

By returning to normal level of sexual activity, people who have had heart attacks can boost their chances of long-term survival.

Though many people stop having sex after a heart attack believeing it could trigger another episode, a new reaserch published on Wednesday in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology says sex is good for survival rates, reports CNN.

Researchers followed 495 couples for around 20 years and found that those who maintained or increased their frequency of sexual activity in the first six months after a heart attack had a 35% lower risk of death than those who stopped having sex or reduced their frequency.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

"Sexuality and sexual activity are markers of wellbeing," study author Professor Yariv Gerber of Tel Aviv University in Israel said in a press release.

"Resumption of sexual activity soon after a heart attack may be a part of one's self-perception as a healthy, functioning, young and energetic person. This may lead to a healthier lifestyle generally."

While sudden physical exertion, such as having sex, can trigger a heart attack, the long-term risk of heart problems is reduced by regular physical activity, the researchers said.

While isolated episodes of sexual activity have been shown to trigger heart problems in some cases, people who exercise regularly are at lower risk.

The 495 patients were aged 65 years or under and hospitalized for their first heart attack in 1993. Their average age was 53 and 90% of them were men.

Researchers found that after 22 years, 211 patients, or 43% of the total participants, had died.

They then adjusted for factors such as obesity, physical activity and socioeconomic status to determine the difference in risk of death between the two groups, and found that the survival benefit "was mostly attributable to a reduction in non-cardiovascular mortality such as cancer" -- ie, the people in the group who died had mainly fallen victim to conditions other than heart disease.

Gerber told CNN that people who can climb stairs or jog or walk a mile without difficulty are safe to have sex again -- a caveat that brings to mind the famous scene in the movie "Something's Gotta Give," in which heart attack patient Jack Nicholson has to prove he can climb a flight of stairs before he can have sex with Diane Keaton.

Patients should also resume sexual activity "as soon as possible," Gerber told CNN, "preferably within a few days after hospital discharge."

However, the severity of the heart attack, as well as complications such as heart failure or atrial fibrillation, can affect the ideal time frame, and individual patients should consult their doctors, Gerber added.

While this study did not examine the ideal frequency of sexual activity, Gerber told CNN that his research group has previously shown that "even a low frequency of less than once a week was associated with better long-term survival compared with no sex at all."

Gerber said sexual activity is a marker for a better recovery because of "improved physical fitness, stronger spouse relations, and a mental ability to 'bounce back' from the initial shock of the event within a few months.

Those who believe they are in poor health may be less likely to resume sexual activity, Gerber added, and they may also be less likely to attend cancer screenings or other health checkups.

"This may explain the strong inverse association between resumption of sexual activity and cancer mortality that was seen in our study," he said.

Gerber noted, however, that the relatively young age profile of participants, as well as the small number of women involved, may limit the strength of findings for older and female patients.

He also underlined that the study does not assume that sexual activity is the only factor that influences survival rates.

"Numerous physical and psychosocial health parameters are required for maintaining regular sexual activity," he said. "In light of this, the net benefit of sexual activity itself is still a matter of debate."

However, the results should show patients that they shouldn't be worried about resuming sexual activity soon after a heart attack, Gerber concluded.

Top News / World+Biz

Heart attack / sex life / Healthy

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Screengrab from video
    Jamaat Ameer Shafiqur collapses on stage mid-speech at Suhrawardy rally
  • Jamaat set for its first-ever Suhrawardy Udyan rally at Suhrawardy Udyan on 19 July 2025. Photo: Jamaat-e-Islami/Facebook
    Elections under PR system most appropriate now, Jamaat’s Taher tells Suhrawardy rally
  • He also announced that the 'July Charter' would be unveiled on 3 August at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka. Photo: Courtesy
    Reform will not be stalled based on who understands PR or not: Nahid

MOST VIEWED

  • Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and SpaceX Vice President Lauren Dreyer after a meeting at state guest house Jamuna on 18 July 2025. Photo: Focus Bangla
    SpaceX VP Lauren Dreyer praises Bangladesh's efficiency in facilitating Starlink launch
  • Representational Photo: Collected
    Railway allocates special trains for Jamaat's national rally in Dhaka
  • Governments often rely on foreign loans. Russia’s loans covered 90% of the Rooppur Nuclear Power plant project's cost. Photo: Collected
    Loan tenure for Rooppur plant extended 
  • Representational image. Photo: Unsplash
    Mobile operators give 1GB free data to users observing 'Free Internet Day' today
  • Dollar rate falling fast – what it means for the economy
    Dollar rate falling fast – what it means for the economy
  • Chattogram-based Western Marine Shipyard Ltd has exported two tugboats—Ghaya and Khalid—to UAE-based Marwan Shipping Ltd, earning $1.6 million. The vessels were officially handed over at the Chittagong Boat Club on 17 July. Photo: Courtesy
    Refined sugar imports double in FY25 as duty cuts bite local refiners

Related News

  • 5 simple daily habits to help lower heart attack risk
  • Scientists develop breakthrough injection to repair damaged hearts
  • BCB security officer Ikram Chowdhury dies of heart attack at Sylhet stadium
  • Tamim has gone through ‘extremely critical period’
  • How can elite athletes also be at risk of heart attacks?

Features

Jatrabari in the capital looks like a warzone as police, alongside Chhatra League men, swoop on quota reform protesters. Photo: Mehedi Hasan

19 July 2024: At least 148 killed as government attempts to quash protests violently

17h | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

Curfews, block raids, and internet blackouts: Hasina’s last ditch efforts to cling to power

23h | Panorama
The Mymensingh district administration confirmed that Zamindar Shashikant Acharya Chowdhury built the house near Shashi Lodge for his staff. Photo: Collected

The Mymensingh house might not belong to Satyajit Ray's family, but there’s little to celebrate

23h | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

20 years of war, 7.5m tonnes of bombs, 1.3m dead: How the US razed Vietnam to the ground

1d | The Big Picture

More Videos from TBS

Shock for Prosun Azad as father goes missing

Shock for Prosun Azad as father goes missing

Now | TBS Stories
Jamaat's ‘national rally’ today, leaders-activists throng Suhrawardy Udyan

Jamaat's ‘national rally’ today, leaders-activists throng Suhrawardy Udyan

1h | TBS Today
Gopalganj unrest: Police file 3 cases against 2,300, so far 164 arrested

Gopalganj unrest: Police file 3 cases against 2,300, so far 164 arrested

1h | TBS Today
Dollar rate falling fast – what it means for the economy

Dollar rate falling fast – what it means for the economy

1h | TBS Insight
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net