From pleasure to the grave: Why some people die during sex
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PEOPLE sometimes die during or shortly after sex. Picture: Pexels / cottonbro
The physical act of sex and orgasm releases the hormone oxytocin, the so-called love hormone, which is important in building trust and bonding between people. But there’s a dark side: people sometimes die during or shortly after sex.
In most cases, it is caused by the physical strain of the sexual activity, or prescription drugs (drugs to treat erectile dysfunction, for example), or illegal drugs, such as cocaine – or both.
The risk of sudden cardiac death is higher as people get older, but recently, researchers from St George’s University of London have found that this phenomenon is not limited to middle-aged men.
The study, published in JAMA Cardiology, examined sudden cardiac death (SCD) in 6 847 cases referred to the St. George's Center for Cardiac Pathology between January 1994 and August 2020.
Mortalities occurred during or within 1 hour after sexual intercourse in just 0.2% of 6 847 SCD cases reviewed in England, and rates of post-sex death remained low across cases of SCD by cause of death:
- Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome: 0.2%
- Aortic dissection: 2%
- Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy: 0.7%
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: 0.3%
- Ischemic heart disease: 0.1%
- Idiopathic fibrosis: 0.6%
- Idiopathic left ventricular hypertrophy: 0.3%
- Mitral valve prolapse: 1%
Of these, 17 (0.2%) occurred during or within one hour of sexual activity. The average age of death was 38, and 35% of cases occurred in women, a higher figure than in previous studies.
These deaths were not usually caused by heart attacks, as seen in older men.
In half of the cases (53%), the heart was found to be structurally normal and a sudden arrhythmia was the cause of death.
Notably, the 17 people who died after sex averaged just 38 years old, and two-thirds were men.
“Younger individuals (aged <50 years) with cardiac conditions, such as cardiomyopathies and channelopathies, may be concerned about their risk for sudden death during sexual intercourse because of the catecholaminergic surge that accompanies this activity,” they wrote.
Despite this, a healthy sex life is linked to better heart health. People who maintain a healthy sex life have a higher survival rate in the long run, according to the research published in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology.
This study also explains that resuming sexual activity soon after a heart attack could be part of a individual’s perspective of healthy, functional and energetic person.
Sex has excellent physical and psychological effects, including reducing high blood pressure, improving the immune system and helping you sleep better and of course, reducing stress.
People who have been diagnosed with some conditions should seek advice from their cardiologist on the risk associated with sexual activity. However, the low incidence of death in these studies suggests the risk is very low – even in people with existing heart conditions.
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