Consider this scenario. Barry, a 65-year-old retired salesman, has a heart attack. Suffering from excruciating pain in his chest and left arm, Barry manages to call for help. He gets to the hospital quickly and receives immediate medical attention. After some time in the hospital, Barry is ready to go home. His doctor tells him he must make some changes in his life, especially in his diet, but assures him that he can otherwise resume normal activities—including sex. After several weeks, Barry is feeling close to his old self, but he still worries about his heart. He is concerned that the exertion caused by sex will bring on another heart attack. And finally, when he does try to have sex with his wife, he finds that he can’t get an erection.
There may be physical causes for Barry’s lack of erection. But his problem may be due only to anxiety—unnecessary anxiety. The exertion required by intercourse is roughly equivalent to that of climbing two flights of stairs, walking several blocks, or taking a heart stress test in the doctor’s office. Researchers estimate that if a patient can do these activities without chest pain, palpitations or abnormal shortness of breath, there is only about a 1 in 10,000 chance that intercourse will bring on sudden death from a heart attack.
Heart-attack patients do not have to live in fear of having intercourse. If you’ve had a heart attack, ask your doctor to monitor your heart on the electrocardiogram (ECG) machine while you have a stress test. If you pass the test, you don’t have to worry. Some men may want a portable ECG to monitor their heart at home, but for most this is not necessary.
Okay, you’re probably not going to die during sex. But what if you get over the anxiety and still can’t get an erection? What’s happening?
Two studies concluded that 50 to 70 percent of men who were impotent after their heart attacks had experienced erection problems prior to their attacks, meaning that their erection problems were probably a sign of the same artery-blocking process that can lead to a heart attack. A heart attack happens when one or more arteries to the heart close up, and such an attack can be just the culmination of a long process of narrowing of the arteries. When the same narrowing occurs in one or more of the arteries supplying blood to his penis, a man is unable to get an erection.
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