About one in eight men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime in the UK but despite this frequency, there is not totally clarity of its cause.
It can often be cured if diagnosed early but when it’s contained inside the prostate, it doesn’t usually cause any symptoms. This is why there is such a drive for people to know about their risk with it mainly affecting men over the age of 50.
While genetics, diet and lifestyle factors are thought to play a role, there has been interest into the link between ejaculation and lower chances of prostate cancer.
And a Harvard study looked at this, finding that those who ejaculated the most each month had a 31 percent lower risk.
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The Health Professionals Follow-Up Study collected information from a large group of volunteers from 1986.
All health care providers, most of the men were white, so it’s important to note that when looking at these results as the risk of prostate cancer is even higher for black men.
In 1992, 29,342 men between the ages of 46 and 81 provided researchers with information about their average number of ejaculations per month over three different brackets.
This was broken down into young adulthood (ages 20 to 29), middle age (ages 40 to 49) and then in their most recent year. Ejaculations were to include sexual intercourse, nocturnal emissions (as in wet dreams) and masturbation.
They gave ‘comprehensive health and lifestyle data’ every two years until the study came too a close in 2000.
And scientists found from all of this that a high frequency of ejaculations was linked to a decreased risk of prostate cancer.
So, compared to those who reported four to seven ejaculations a month over their lifetimes, the men who ejaculated 21 or more times each month came in with a 31 percent lower risk of prostate cancer.
The researchers add: “And the results held up to rigorous statistical evaluation even after other lifestyle factors and the frequency of PSA testing were taken into account.”
Other research also found that men needed to ejaculate more than four times a month to lower their chances of prostate cancer.
It doesn’t seem that experts are totally sure of just why ejaculation helps prostate health but there are some theories that it can help to flush out harmful chemicals that might build up in semen.
Always seek advice from a healthcare professional if you have any concerns.
For more information around prostate cancer, please visit Prostate Cancer UK.
Jess Battison