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RETURN TO THE WORLD SCIENCE HOME PAGE Common heart defect may increase risk of stroke during sex
Sept.
22,
2004 Researchers
are
finding
that
this
defect,
widely
considered
relatively
harmless,
may
increase
the
risk
of
having
strokes
during
sex,
even
among
young
adults.
In
the
July
issue
of
the
research
journal
Archives
of Neurology,
researchers
with
the
University
of
Washington
School
of
Medicine
reported
on
four
hospital
patients
who
had
had
similar
experiences
to
that
of
the
young
woman.
After
investigating
their
cases,
the
researchers
found
the
patients
all
had
the
heart
condition,
called
patent
foramen
ovale.
Fetuses have a normal opening between the left and right upper chambers of the heart. Patent foramen ovale occurs when this opening fails to close naturally soon after the baby is born. The
University
of
Washington
finding
adds
to
evidence,
previously
unclear,
that
the
condition
may
increase
stroke
risk,
the
authors
wrote.
The
strokes
could
come
about
when
increased
pressure
in
the
chest,
as
can
occur
during
sex,
pushes
a
blood
clot
through
the
hole
and
toward
the
brain. Researchers
started
noticing
at
least
two
decades
ago
that
some
cases
of
stroke
were
attributable
to
patent
foramen
ovale,
said
Kyra
Becker
of
the
University
of
Washington
School
of
Medicine,
Seattle,
U.S.A.,
one
of
the
authors
of
the
study.
However,
researchers
haven’t
been
able
to
quantify
exactly
how
much
the
condition
increases
stroke
risk,
if
at
all.
—EJL * * * Send us a comment on this story
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