Sexual activity and the cardiac patient.
Coronary heart disease is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly population in the United States, affecting both men and women. Advances in cardiac therapies have enabled cardiac patients to remain both physically and sexually active even into their eighties and nineties. However, both patients and physicians are reluctant to discuss sexual issues. A significant number of patients will have sexual dysfunction following a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease. It is therefore imperative that physicians initiate discussions regarding sexual activity and potential risks to the patient such as myocardial infarction, sudden death, and arrhythmia. Risk stratification based on objective criteria and in particular cases, functional testing, may be useful in counseling patients regarding individual risk. Newly available pharmacologic therapies such as sildenafil may be useful, but must be used with caution in patients with known cardiovascular disease.
Thorson
Anne I
AI
Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. athorson@medicine.ucsf.edu
D004734:Energy Metabolism; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D010726:Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010879:Piperazines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011687:Purines; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D000068677:Sildenafil Citrate; D013450:Sulfones
D010726:Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors; D010879:Piperazines; D011687:Purines; D013450:Sulfones; D000068677:Sildenafil Citrate