One More Reason NOT to Have Sex Tonight

One More Reason NOT to Have Sex Tonight

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Your next orgasm could be a killer ... literally.

A 35-year-old woman suffered a life-threatening stroke after having an orgasm. Yes, an orgasm.

"This young woman ... while having intercourse, had numbness on the left side of her face, slurred speech, and weakness in her left arm," Jose Biller, MD, professor and chair of the neurology department at Loyola University, Chicago tells WebMD. "When she was transferred to our care six hours after onset, she was completely unable to move her left arm, her face was paralyzed, her speech was garbled, and she was in a state of panic."

After some aggressive treatment in surgery, she's fine now. But could this happen to you?

Most people who have a sex stroke have a small opening in the wall between the two upper chambers of their heart, called a PFO. One in four adults has this minor heart defect. But just having a PFO isn't enough to cause a stroke, WebMD reports. A person also must have a blood clot that breaks loose and enters the heart just in time to be sucked through the PFO during sex, lodge in the brain, and cause a stroke. The odds are astronomical.

"If you develop sudden neurological symptoms during sex, it could be a stroke. You need to seek help urgently and go to the emergency room," Brett L. Cucchiara, MD, director of the Penn Stroke Center at the University of Pennsylvania, warns.

We've tried "Honey, I have PMS" as an excuse to get out of sex. "Honey, I have PFO" can't be far behind.

9 comments so far | Post a comment now >>

but it feels good

- Anonymous

Posted 09/18/08 12:31 PM

yowza … i never knew sex could kill me!

- Anonymous

Posted 09/18/08 01:32 PM

You know that the man is bragging.

- Anonymous

Posted 09/18/08 02:09 PM

Bragging after his wife had a stroke? I doubt it.

- Are men really that callus?

Posted 09/18/08 11:53 PM

Are you kidding me? This article is ridiculous! This stroke could happen whether you are running or with any other sort of excertion! Sure sex could be one example of excertion and it most certainley is the cause of that 35 year old womans stroke, but come on! I mean, get a grip people!

- Jessica

Posted 09/19/08 07:14 AM

I agree with Jessica.

- Shelley

Posted 09/19/08 11:10 AM

Sex… I remember that. Boy I guess that I will live forever. I haven’t had sex in two years since my old man died.

- Ginnyg

Posted 09/19/08 12:58 PM

Hmm… Interesting to know… Two things are certain in this world. 1. You were born. 2. You will die. What you do between those two events will make for either a happy life or a lonely depressing life. The truth is, everything has the possiblity of killing you. So you either not worry about it or live in a cave the rest of your life.

- Sara

Posted 09/27/08 02:02 AM

that doesnt seem like a totally bad way to die…

- Anna

Posted 09/27/08 09:18 PM