Many People Die Each Year During or After Sex

Sex offers numerous advantageous physical and psychological outcomes, such as lowering elevated blood pressure, enhancing the immune system, and promoting improved sleep quality.

Engaging in sexual activity and experiencing orgasm trigger the release of oxytocin, often referred to as the “love hormone,” which plays a crucial role in fostering trust and strengthening bonds between individuals.

However, there is a darker aspect: individuals occasionally pass away during or shortly after engaging in sexual activity. Fortunately, this occurrence is exceedingly rare and constitutes only 0.6 percent of all instances of sudden death.

Contributing Factors to Sudden Death During or After Sexual Activity

Numerous factors contribute to this phenomenon. In many instances, individuals attribute it to the physical exertion of sexual activity, the use of prescribed medications (such as those for erectile dysfunction), or the consumption of illicit substances like cocaine—or a combination thereof.

The risk of experiencing sudden cardiac death increases with age. A forensic postmortem investigation conducted in Germany, spanning 33 years and involving 32,000 cases of sudden death, revealed that 0.2 percent of incidents occurred during sexual activity.

These sudden deaths predominantly affected men, with an average age of 59 years, and the primary cause was often a heart attack, medically termed myocardial infarction. Studies conducted in the United States, France, and South Korea have similarly observed these findings when investigating sudden cardiac death and sexual activity.

It’s not limited to middle-aged men alone

Recently, researchers at St George’s, University of London, have found that this phenomenon does not exclusively affect middle-aged men.

The study, published in JAMA Cardiology, delved into sudden cardiac death within 6,847 cases referred to the center for cardiac pathology at St George’s from January 1994 to August 2020.

Among these cases, 17 (0.2 percent) happened either during sexual activity or within an hour afterward. The average age at the time of death was 38 years, and a higher proportion, 35 percent, involved women compared to previous research.

These deaths were typically not attributable to heart attacks, as often seen in older men.

Alternatively, in half of the cases (53 percent), there were no observable structural abnormalities in the heart. The cause of death was attributed to sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS), characterized by an unexpected irregular heart rhythm.

Secondary Cause

The second most common cause (12 percent) was aortic dissection, where the layers of the arterial wall originating from the heart tear, leading to blood flow between the layers, causing the artery to bulge and rupture.

The remaining cases attributed structural anomalies such as cardiomyopathy, which impairs the heart muscle’s ability to pump blood efficiently, or a rare group of genetic disorders known as channelopathies.

This occurs when the ion channels responsible for regulating the flow of sodium and potassium in and out of heart muscle cells malfunction. This disruption in sodium and potassium levels within the cells can modify the electrical impulses across the heart muscle, altering its rhythm.

An irregular heart rhythm can result in inadequate oxygen supply to the heart muscle (myocardial ischemia), leading to a sudden cessation of heart function known as sudden cardiac arrest.

As per this recent study, sudden cardiac death in individuals under the age of 50 is mainly associated with sudden arrhythmic death syndrome or cardiomyopathies.

Young adults diagnosed with these conditions should consult their cardiologist regarding the potential risks associated with sexual activity.

Nevertheless, the infrequent occurrence of death in these studies implies that the risk, even among individuals with pre-existing heart conditions, is minimal.

Read the original article on: Science Alert

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