How sex may protect against prostate cancer

The key leading to a healthy prostate may start in the bedroom.  Yes, sex and frequent sex, appear to be one way to reduce a man’s risk of developing the second most common cancer in men.  Not only do orgasms feel fantastic but the frequency of ejaculation affects prostate cancer risk in a positive way. It appears that men who ejaculate a lot over the course of a month are less likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer.

This finding was first uncovered back in 2004 when researchers at the National Cancer Institute examined the association between ejaculation frequency – which includes sexual intercourse, nocturnal emission, and masturbation – and the risk of prostate cancer. 

The study first appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, tracked over 29,000 men in the U.S. aged 46 to 81 years using data from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study from 1992 to 2000.  All men were cancer free when the study began.

Each man filled out questionnaires every 2 years over the course of the study with the participants reporting on the average number of ejaculations they had each month during the ages of 20 to 29 years, 40 to 49 years, and during the past year. 

The results showed men who ejaculated 21 or more times a month had a 33% lower risk of prostate cancer compared with men who reported four to seven ejaculations a month throughout their lifetimes.

An Australian study of 2,338 men had the same results in that men who averaged four to seven ejaculations a week were 36% less likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer before the age of 70 than men who ejaculated less than 2.3 times a week on average.  But another study found that men who had sex with 30 or more women were two to three times more likely to develop prostate cancer than men with only one partner.

This is considered good news for all men even though there was no agreement as to what accounted for the protection.  One reason given was that the prostate accumulates carcinogens or other harmful substances which are maybe eliminated during ejaculation.

It should be noted that it is still too soon to definitively say that sex can be used as a tool in prostate cancer prevention.  Men need to remember that sexual activity can have some negative consequences, such as acquiring a sexually transmitted infection.  However, ejaculation could also be the result of other factors that contribute to good health such as eating a healthy diet and maintaining a normal body weight.

The studies also showed that it doesn’t matter whether a man has an orgasm with a partner or on his own as the advantages of ejaculation are seen regardless of whether a man is having intercourse or is masturbating.

Whatever the reason may be, men can enjoy knowing that sex is a very pleasurable method of possibly protecting himself against prostate cancer.