Is it possible to die of a heart attack while having sex? British researchers have reported that dying in seventh heaven remains rare, but that this phenomenon does not only affect the elderly.
- Of 6,847 cases of sudden cardiac death, 17 occurred during or within an hour of sexual intercourse.
- At the time of their death during a sexual relationship, people were on average 38 years old.
“Sudden cardiac death can occur under a variety of circumstances, including physical exercise and sexual intercourse.” This is what London scientists wrote in a study published in the journal JAMA Cardiology January 12. The team decided to carry out work, because in the collective imagination, seniors would be the most likely to die of a heart attack during sexual intercourse. To find out if this is really the case, the researchers examined 6,847 cases of sudden death. This data was collected by Saint George’s University in London between 1994 and 2020. “Sudden cardiac death was defined as death occurring within 12 hours of apparent well-being,” they specified.
Rare cases of sudden cardiac death during sex
Among the sudden death cases analysed, 17 occurred during or within an hour of sexual intercourse. “Sudden cardiac deaths occurring during sex accounted for a small proportion of the deceased,” specified the researchers.
The deaths examined were not caused by heart attacks. In 9 people, death was caused by a suddenly abnormal heart rhythm that led to sudden arrhythmia death syndrome. For two people, the identified cause was an aortic dissection. It is a disease in which the inner layer of the aortic wall tears and separates from the middle layer of the aortic wall. The rest of the sudden death cases were due to structural abnormalities or a rare group of genetic pathologies, called “channelopathies”.
The average age was estimated at 38 years
According to the results, the average age of people who died while having sex was 38, and most of the deceased were men. However, “we found that the proportion of women who died was significantly higher than in previous studies”, the scientists pointed out. “This difference is likely related to the difference in age range given that we included people with an average age at death of 38 and the other reports included older men who were expected a higher prevalence of coronary heart disease”, they added.
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