As Malaysians are becoming more affluent, their choices of diet and lifestyle are drastically changing and this is leading to the rise in number of diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and strokes, further causing strokes in older adults.

Experts suggest that stroke patients in their 30s and 40s have to grapple with the burden of strokes for many decades and their biggest concern lies at whether they can have sex after stroke or not as most of the stroke patients believe that their sexual life ends with the strokes.

Sources indicate that sex is the last thing on the mind of a person who has just suffered a stroke but as recovery progresses, the patient often begins to have sexual feelings again and may want to resume sexual activity which is very natural and should not be discouraged.

Doctors believe that sex is not detrimental to the health of the stroke patient and it can have positive effects on the patient’s well-being as it improves self-esteem and is an important source of pleasure, relaxation and intimacy.

There can be many ways that a stroke can affect a person’s ability to have sex because most the stroke patients fear having another stroke while engaging in a sexual activity as sexual excitement increases blood pressure but it is not the sufficient factor to cause a stroke.