SEX AND HEART DISEASE

I’ll bet that title will arouse some attention! Well, after hearing for the umpteenth time, “if you suffer from heart disease, always check with your doctor to make sure it’s safe to have sex,” I thought I’d share my perspective.

First, checking with your doctor IS NOT THE SAME THING AS HAVING SEX WITH YOUR DOCTOR AND SEEING IF YOU SURVIVE!!

Now that we’ve cleared that up, what kind of exam would a qualified doctor perform to measure risk factors?

They would review:

• your family history

• your personal history

They would perform an exam checking:

• blood pressure, pulse rate, heart sounds (auscultation with a stethoscope.) They would check for arterial bruits (with a stethoscope) in the neck, abdomen and upper legs (bruits- abnormal sounds indicating vascular compromise.)

If the exam was inconclusive, diagnostic testing could be ordered. Testing might include:

• blood tests

• chest x-ray

• electrocardiogram (ECG)

• echocardiogram

• doppler ultrasound

• stress test (with or without nuclear dye contrast)

• angiography

• cardiac catheterization

The purpose of these tests would be to determine anatomical abnormalities as well as stability of cardiac function. The physician would be assessing:

1. reasons for short windedness

2. abnormal heart rate

3. arrhythmia (irregular heart rhythm)

4. decreased vascular flow to the heart

5. heart valve structural integrity and function

6. heart size

7. heart damage (from previous cardiac occurrences)

If heart function was within normal parameters and pain (angina) was not experienced on exertion, doctors would likely approve “adult recreational activity” (also known as sex.) Even if there was a past history of acute cardiac distress including myocardial infarct (heart attack,) most doctors would relieve their patient’s concerns by encouraging their return to “normal adult behaviors” (once diagnostic testing determined the heart was stable.)

For a majority of us looking to avoid this embarrassing and financially expensive encounter with our physicians, I recommend avoiding cardiac disease in the first place. It really comes down to basics:

• Eat healthy (80-90% of the time)

• Exercise realistically (3-5X/week)

• Reduce stress AND learn to channel stress in positive ways

• Get required sleep (6-9 hours/night)

• Create personal “down time”

• View people and life from an optimistic perspective

These basic concepts improve the quality of living while minimizing the need for physician assistance. It also beats having to speed dial your doctor late at night to inquire whether your diagnostic testing has revealed a “thumbs up or thumbs down” conclusion just before experiencing an intimate evening.

Take care of your HEALTH so you can enjoy a life worth living under TERMS YOU DECIDE; not terms your blood work or diagnostic testing decides for you.

 

Tags: death, exercise, fitness, food, health, heart disease, lifestyle, pain, pharmaceutical, Quality of living