Does frequent ejaculation lower risk of prostate cancer?

Men, here’s a health tip you’ll likely want to follow: Engage in more sex or self-pleasure to reduce your risk of prostate cancer. You may ask yourself, what does sex have to do with prostate cancer? Is there a link between the frequency of ejaculations and this disease?

Thanks to research, it looks like there could be a possibility that frequent ejaculation might tip the odds in your favor of avoiding a diagnosis of the second most common cancer found in men.

Studies on ejaculation frequency and prostate cancer risk

There have been two prevailing thoughts on the connection of frequency of sex and prostate cancer: those who believe more sex increases cancer risk and those who are of the opinion that frequent sex protects men from prostate cancer.

Those believing frequent sex or ejaculation increases the risk of prostate cancer speculate that men having more sex could be placing themselves more at risk of a sexually transmitted disease, possibly increasing the risk of prostate cancer. Another speculation is that men with a high sex drive have more testosterone, possibly increasing the risk of prostate cancer.

On the flip side, those believing frequent sexual activity reduces risk of the disease, conclude that ejaculation acts as a means of sweeping away cancer-causing agents leading to inflammation and prostate cancer.

What does science say? To address cynics disputing frequent ejaculation decreases a man’s risk of prostate cancer, a 1992 study by Harvard University and the National Cancer Institute decided to find out the truth. Almost 32,000 American men, participating in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, who were mostly white, middle-aged (between ages 41 and 86) and had never had a sexually transmitted disease, were studied for this research. Men who did not have prostate cancer provided information about the average number of ejaculations per month during young adulthood (20-29), middle age (40-49), and later on.

Ejaculations included sexual intercourse, nocturnal emissions, and masturbation. Other data collected included each man’s health status and lifestyle habits.

For the next eight years, approximately 1,500 men in the study were diagnosed with prostate cancer. However, what the research revealed surprised even the scientists. Frequent ejaculations did not increase prostate cancer risk. Compared to men who reported an average ejaculation frequency of 4-7 times a month, men who averaged 21 times of ejaculations per month had a 20% reduced risk of prostate cancer.

The Health Professionals Follow-Up Study is not the only research finding this same conclusion. A case-control Australian study of more than 2300 men analyzed sexual factors impacting the risk of prostate cancer before the age of 70. One of the factors looked at was the total frequency of ejaculations whether from sexual intercourse, nocturnal emissions, or masturbation. The same conclusion was found: men who reported 4.6 to 7 ejaculations a week were 36% less likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer before the age of 70 than men averaging 2.3 ejaculations a week.

Takeaways from research

Like all research, there is no one perfect study that conclusively can say for certain that their findings are 100% accurate.

What we do know is that based on these two large studies, men can rejoice in the fact that frequent ejaculations will not increase a man’s risk for prostate cancer. In fact, the scientists hypothesize that frequent ejaculation helps empty the prostate regularly, preventing clogging in the ducts within the prostate which could lead to inflammation. Ejaculation could also help flush out harmful chemicals that build up in semen, further protecting the prostate gland.

Researchers also concluded besides frequent ejaculation, likely other factors are involved influencing the risk of prostate cancer development.  These factors include men who eat a healthier diet, have different hormone levels and regularly engage in consistent exercise.

The takeaway from this research is to study why frequent ejaculation seems to have a protective effect on reducing prostate cancer.

Dr. David Samadi is the Director of Men’s Health and Urologic Oncology at St. Francis Hospital in Long Island. He’s a renowned and highly successful board certified Urologic Oncologist Expert and Robotic Surgeon in New York City, regarded as one of the leading prostate surgeons in the U.S., with a vast expertise in prostate cancer treatment and Robotic-Assisted Laparoscopic Prostatectomy.  Visit Dr. Samadi’s websites at robotic oncology and prostate cancer 911.