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    Countrydoctor thought male readers would find this piece of particular interest.

NEW research released today shows that frequent sexual activity does not increase the risk of stroke in men.

Professor Shah Ebrahim, Stroke Specialist, University of Bristol, said, "Contrary to previous belief that sex may cause a stroke, this study supported by The Stroke Association, shows there is little evidence on the role of sexual intercourse as a risk factor for stroke. Men should be heartened to know that they can have sex as many times as they like and it is not likely to result in a stroke and that some protection from heart attack may be an added bonus." 

Dr Ebrahim looked at 914 men aged between 45-59 years, living in Caerphilly, South Wales.¹ Of this group, around a quarter had sexual intercourse twice or more times a week, whilst 20 per cent had sex less than once a month. The study found frequent sexual intercourse was not likely to result in an increased risk of stroke and that it may even protect against fatal heart attacks.

"Strokes occur quite commonly at night and in the morning," says Eoin Redahan, a director of The Stroke Association.² "Sexual activity is usually higher at these times and because of this coincidence, some people have assumed that there is connection between sex and suffering a stroke. This research suggests that there is not."

"The result, however, raises other questions", says Mr Redahan. "There is already evidence that increased physical activity helps to reduce the risk of stroke. But this study does not show a reduced risk of stroke the more often a man has sexual intercourse. This research, however, does show such a connection with heart attacks. It may be necessary to look at this information more carefully," he explained. 

1. Ebrahim S. et al (2001). Sexual intercourse and risk of ischaemic stroke and coronary heart disease: the Caerphilly study: J Epidemiology and Community Health; 58: 0-3. (cont)

2. Odds ratios (OR) used in the paper should be interpreted as follows: OR of 0.61 comparing high frequency with intermediate frequency of sexual intercourse is equivalent saying that the risk of stroke is 29% lower in those having an intermediate level of sexual intercourse than in those having sex at least twice a week. Note that as the study is fairly small, the confidence with which this apparently increased risk can be believed is low * the association is probably simply due to the play of chance, resulting in the conclusion that sexual intercourse is not related to risk of stroke.

3. The Stroke Association has partly funded this study. 

4. When a stroke occurs part of the brain is suddenly severely damaged or destroyed. It takes place either when a blood clot forms in a damaged vessel and blocks the flow of blood to the brain - an ischaemic stroke, or when a damaged vessel in the brain bursts - a haemorrhagic stroke.

5. Every year 10,000 people under the age of 55 have a stroke.

6. Stroke is the single biggest cause of serious disability with a total of 300,000 people affected at any one time.

7. The University of Bristol is one of the UK's top universities offering high quality teaching underpinned by leading-edge research. Bristol continues to be one of the most popular in the country with an average of over 11 applications per place. The University is also an international organisation with students and staff from more than 100 countries and research collaborations that extend world-wide.

References
¹Caerphilly and Speedwell Collaborative heart disease studies. The Caerphilly and Speedwell Collaborative Group. J Epidemiology and Community Health 1984;38:259-62.

² Gur AY, Bornstein NM. Are there any unique epidemiological and vascular risk factors for ischaemic strokes that occur in the morning hours? European J Neurol 2000;7:179-81.