Many sufferers’ fear that lovemaking will get them over excited and put them back in hospital, or even kill them, was misguided, experts said.

The American Heart Association’s conference, in Washington DC, was told that it was safe to resume sex as soon as the patient feels better and can handle moderate exercise.

Doctors, the conference heard, should encourage heart attack patients that sex after an attack was minimal.

A study presented at the conference found men and women were 1.3 to 1.4 times more likely to cut down on sex after a heart attack.

But the study, of more than 1,600 patients, found less than half of men and a third of women were actually were given advice from their doctor about how to resume safe sexual activity.

Prof Stacy Tessler Lindau, who led the study, said fewer than 40 per cent of men and less than one in five women spoke about sex with their physicians in the year following their heart attack.

Prof Lindau, a gynaecologist and sexuality researcher at the University of Chicago, told the conference that patients’ concerns that lovemaking was dangerous were misguided and urged doctors to help them return to a normal sex life.

“People perceive it might kill them. And it’s not just the person with the heart attack, but also their partner,” she told the conference.

“If you can walk up two flights of stairs or do moderate exercise, then it’s OK to have sex. The likelihood of dying during sexual intercourse, even among people who have had a heart attack, is really small.

“Sexuality is an important part of life throughout life, and most heart attack patients are sexually active.”

She added: “For the most part, physicians just aren’t discussing this topic with their patients after a heart attack.”

In the study, the largest ever undertaken found that male participants, whose average age was 59, were more likely to be married than the women, whose average age was 61. They were also found to be more likely sexually active prior to their heart attack.

Patients who were given doctors’ advice about resuming sexual activity at hospital discharge were more were 30 per cent to 40 per cent more likely to engage in such activity over the following year, it found.

Prof Lindau said doctors needed to raise the subject, even if it’s not part of a routine discharge checklist because “not raising the question of sexuality leaves the door closed”.

Depression and mood swings are common after a heart attack and can dampen interest in sex, but this usually goes away within three months, the conference heard.

Out of 90,000 deaths caused by heart disease in Britain each year, about 40,000 occur in women, according to the British Heart Foundation. It said the research highlighted the need for doctors to reassure patients sex is safe even after heart problems.

“Some people are scared of having sex after a heart attack in case the exertion causes another one. But this is extremely unlikely,” said Cathy Ross, a cardiac nurse at the charity.

“You can still enjoy a happy and healthy sex life, even if you have a heart condition.”

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By Andrew Hough
Telegraph Media Group Limited