What? Frequent sex and masturbation in 20s and 30s ups risk of prostate cancer?
January 26, 2009 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Although this may sound like something out of the "don’t do it because you’ll go blind" book of sexual repression, it’s not a joke. According to a report published in the January issue of BJU International, men who are very sexually active in their 20s and 30s, especially if they masturbate frequently, have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer.
BUT – men in their 50s who have even infrequent sexual activity actually decrease their risk of developing prostate cancer.
According to the study, which looked at 800 men:
- frequent sex in 20s and 30s: not good
- frequent sex in 40s: no health impact re prostate
- sex in 50s: good
- The important point also was not intercourse, but the frequency of masturbation.
I would be very interested in reading the study in whole, but this is the information provided by the publisher’s press release:
- 59% of the men in both groups said that they had engaged in sexual activity (intercourse or masturbation) 12 times a month or more in their twenties. This fell steadily as they got older, to 48% in their thirties, 28% in their forties and 13% in their fifties.
- 39% of the cancer group had had six female partners or more, compared with 31% of the control group.
- Men with prostate cancer were more likely to have had a sexually transmitted disease than those without prostate cancer.
- More men with prostate cancer fell into the highest frequency groups in each decade when it came to sexual activity (intercourse and masturbation) than men in the control group. 40% of men in the cancer group fell into the highest frequency category in their twenties (20 or more times a month) compared to 32% in the control group. Similar patterns were observed in the men’s thirties and forties. By the fifties it had evened out, with 31% in each group falling into the most frequent category (ten or more times a month).
- Men with prostate cancer were also more likely to masturbate frequently than men in the control group, with the greatest difference in the twenties (34% versus 24%) and thirties (41% versus 31%). The differences were less pronounced in their forties (34% versus 28%) and by the fifties the cancer group was slightly lower (25% versus 26%).
There does seem to be a connection, and it would make sense, between sexual activity and prostate cancer, just as there seems to be a connection between breastfeeding and breast cancer. But I’m just a bit astounded that someone thought to look into the masturbation aspect.
The authors have a theory of why sex in the 50s is protective against prostate cancer:
"A possible explanation for the protective effect that men in their fifties appear to receive from overall sexual activity, and particularly masturbation, is that the release of accumulated toxins during sexual activity reduces the risk of developing cancer in the prostate area. This theory has, however, not been firmly established and further research is necessary."
What do you think? And, if you like this post or want to spread the word, please click in the "Share this" link below to help let others know about it.
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Tags: cancer blog, prostate cancer, frequent sex and masturbation, frequent sex, masturbation and prostate cancer
whooopy i get the first comment
Interesting. That’s the first time I’ve heard that more activity was bad for prostate cancer. Up until now, I (admittedly a layperson who doesn’t read many medical journals) had only heard of the more frequent orgasm/less frequent prostate cancer link. It’s interesting to see the age breakdown for sexual activity and its effect.
It’s really weird that the link was between masturbation and cancer. If it was sexual intercourse, the link might be explained by an STD, similar to the HPV that causes cervical cancer in women. But masturbation? How the heck does that cause cancer? I’m just speculating here that men in their 20s who jerk off a lot might also do something else a lot that causes cancer? Maybe they smoke weed or something? Who knows, but this sounds a lot like the association between ice cream eating and murder rates to me.
I’m wondering if a study of 800 men is enough to make a causal link? I can only imagine that the more a man ejaculates the healthier his prostate and penis will be.
I also think masturbation is very healthy physically and psychologically and I hate to think that this study is potential fodder for the rampant Puritanism and anti-sex attitude we often see in this country.
I’d like to read the study itself and I’ll look forward to other scientists’ reactions to it (I hope you’ll post them here). Very interesting! Thanks for telling us about it.
This just means the men that have more testosterone get cancer easier.
Strange, because Dr. Oz said the exact opposite. I trust Dr. Oz.