A leading doctors group is weighing in on one of the least discussed issues facing heart attack survivors -- is it safe to have sex?
In its first science-based recommendations, the American Heart Association says having sex only slightly raises the chance for a heart attack. And that's true for people with and without heart disease.
The recommendation says if a person is healthy enough to walk up two flights of stairs without chest pain or gasping for breath, that individual can have a love life.
The lead author of the report says many heart patients don't think twice about climbing stairs, yet many worry that sexual activity will cause another heart attack, or even sudden death.
There's also no evidence showing that heart patients have more sex-related heart attacks than people without cardiac disease.
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