TUESDAY, April 6 (HealthDayNews)
-- Sexually active men are not at a greater risk of developing prostate
cancer, a new study says, and frequent ejaculation may reduce their chances
of getting the disease.
Previous studies have produced conflicting evidence on the risks or
benefits of ejaculation in connection with the development of prostate
cancer. Some found that increased sexual activity lowers the risk of the
tumors, the second most common form of cancer in American men. Others found
just the opposite.
The new study, appearing in the April 7 issue of the Journal of the
American Medical Association, followed almost 30,000 doctors, dentists,
and other health professionals participating in a long-term look at cancer
and chronic disease. The men ranged in age from 46 to 81.
As part of the research project, the men, who were mostly white, were
asked about their sex life, specifically how frequently they ejaculated -- a
question meant to capture not only intercourse but masturbation and
nocturnal emissions -- during their 20s, their 40s and in the previous year.
"Not only did [frequent ejaculation] not pose an adverse risk factor, but
it possibly could be associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer," said
Dr. Michael Leitzmann, an epidemiologist at the National Cancer Institute
and the leader of the study.
Men who reported between four and seven ejaculations a month over their
adult lifetime had an 11 percent lower chance of developing prostate cancer
than those who ejaculated no more than three times a month. Every
three-ejaculations-per-week increase across a man's lifetime was associated
with a 15 percent drop in prostate cancer risk.
The modest effect of occasional ejaculation could simply illustrate that
it doesn't raise the risk of prostate cancer, Leitzmann and his colleagues
said.
But men who ejaculated at least 21 times a month had a 33 percent lower
chance of developing prostate cancer, suggesting that frequent ejaculation
does indeed protect the prostate from growing tumors.
However, the number of cancer cases in this small group was itself small
-- only 60 out of the 1,449 cases overall, undercutting the strength of the
finding.
Men who reported such frequent ejaculation in the year before entering
the study got even more protection against cancer. Again, however, the
number of tumor cases in this group was tiny.
How frequent ejaculation might protect the prostate, a walnut-sized gland
that provides the liquid medium for sperm during emission, isn't known. The
researchers suggest that ejaculation could help purge the prostate of
cancer-causing chemicals or stunt the formation of crystalloids that have
been linked to tumors in some men.
Another, more speculative, possibility is that the relief of stress
associated with ejaculation could lead to hormonal activity that's less
likely to promote cancerous changes in the gland.
Until scientists learn more about how the prostate benefits from frequent
ejaculation, Leitzmann said, it's too early to recommend that men step up
their sexual activity.
"Our study should stimulate progress toward [understanding the mechanism]
as opposed to putting out a public health recommendation," he said.
Dr. Graham Giles, an Australian cancer researcher who has looked at
sexual activity and prostate cancer risk, said the latest study "goes a long
way to confirm" his own group's findings that frequency of ejaculation and
prostate tumors are inversely connected.
"Very few studies, like this one and ours, have measured total
ejaculations," Giles said. "Most have relied solely on the frequency of
sexual intercourse, and therefore probably missed measuring a lot of male
sexual activity
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