Does Lack Of Sex Cause Prostate Cancer

What Is The Gleason Score

So, how do you know where your biopsy stands? Your biopsy samples will be assigned whats called a Gleason score, the most commonly used way to grade prostate cancer, which will help your doctor make treatment decisions.

It works like this:

To make it super clear, lets walk you through an example.

Persistent Ejaculation And Prostatitis

One study has found a connection between persistent ejaculations and the occurrence of chronic prostatitis, which is inflammation of the prostate over a period of time longer than 3 months.

Symptoms and signs of chronic prostatitis include the following:

• Post-ejaculatory pain is a hallmark of the condition.
• Perineal or pelvic pain without any evidence of a urinary tract infection, which lasts longer than 3 months.
• Pain can be present in the perineum, testes, tip of the penis and the pubic or bladder area.
• Pain which radiates to the back and rectum and makes sitting down uncomfortable.
• Arthralgia.
• Constant burning pain in the penis.
• Abdominal pain.
• Erectile difficulties.
• Sexual dysfunction.

The reason for this is because persistent ejaculation causes buildup of lactic acid and free radicals. These products are not cleared properly by the liver because its activity is suppressed by stress hormones released during the ejaculatory process. The buildup of these products then leads to inflammation of the prostatic tissue.

Masturbation and testicular size

Testicular size can be negatively affected by the following issues:

There are literally over a hundred conditions that can cause testicular atrophy but masturbation is really one activity that one shouldn’t worry about causing this issue.

How May Erectile Dysfunction Affect My Sex Life

Most men find that their sex life is different after prostate cancer treatment. Some men question their manliness when they cannot have an erection or find that they are not interested in sex. This can happen even if you are not currently in an intimate relationship. You may find this upsetting. Even if one of the medications or erection aids is helpful, having sex using these things may take some getting used to. It may not feel entirely natural. You can talk with your doctor or healthcare team about these feelings. Counseling may also help.

If you have an intimate partner, it is important for you to talk to your partner about how you are feeling. There is an old saying that a problem shared is a problem halved. Not everyone wants a sexual relationship. Dont try to guess or assume what your partner wants. Have an open and honest discussion with your partner.

This may seem unnecessary in long-term relationships as people tend to assume they know all there is to know about their partner but this is not always the case. With time, you and your partner may be able to find satisfying ways to have a sex life even though you have erectile dysfunction. Your partner will also have concerns about your sex life as well as concerns about your health. Talking about your feelings is very important during this time.

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Is Sex Good For Your Prostate

Whether or not sex is good for prostate problems is a question many men wonder, and its an important one that needs answering.

The prostate plays an active role during sexual activity.

Along with other structures, the prostate is responsible for making fluid in semen, which helps transport your sperm when you ejaculate.

The effect regular ejaculations have on the prostate should become a significant talking point, especially amongst men who are experiencing prostate problems.

This article will determine whether a healthy sex life can reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer.

How Does Your Sex Life Affect Your Prostate Cancer Risk

Could how often you ejaculate be linked to prostate cancer? Find out what two studies and two experts say about sex and prostate cancer risk.

What if your chances of getting prostate cancer were somehow tied to how much sex you were having? Some studies have explored that very question specifically, whether theres a link between how often you ejaculate and your prostate cancer risk.

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The Importance Of Screening

Dr. Nair-Shalliker explains that the purpose of this study was to identify prostate cancer risk factors so that doctors would know what advice to give to their patients. She explains that men over 50 with a family history of prostate cancer would be able to identify these risk factors by themselves and speak to their doctors about testing for cancer. But she also states that it is too early to start giving advice about sexual activity because the problem of prostate cancer is multi-faceted.

Screening for prostate cancer early reduces the risk of complications from prostate cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer is a slow-growing cancer and those with known risk factors are adequate candidates for cancer screening.

Does An Enlarged Prostate Affect A Man Sexually

An enlarged prostate can cause sexual problems in men, such as:

• Erectile dysfunction
• Reduced sex drive

Sudden onset of erectile dysfunction may be a sign of prostate cancer and needs medical evaluation. Erectile dysfunctions may also occur after the therapy for prostate cancer including surgery, radiotherapy, and hormonal therapy.

Sexual problems, such as erectile dysfunction or ejaculation problems, may occur in men with noncancerous enlargement of the prostate . Sexual dysfunction in BPH usually results from the treatment rather than the disease. Medications for BPH, such as the antitestosterone drug and finasteride , have been associated with erectile dysfunction in 3.7% of men who use it. Finasteride is also linked with diminished libido in 3.3% men. Other medications for BPH, such as terazosin , tamsulosin , and doxazosin , can improve BPH symptoms with a lower risk of sexual side effects.

Surgical procedures for BPH, such as the transurethral resection of the prostate , are often used when medications fail. Erectile dysfunction can occur because of TURP in a small percentage of men.

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Talking About Sex And Prostate Cancer

You may find it difficult to talk about sex with your doctor or nurse. But doctors and nurses who treat prostate cancer are used to talking about these issues. They can give you advice and answer your questions. If you need more specialist advice, they can refer you to an erectile dysfunction clinic or a sex therapist.

If you have questions about sex during or after treatment, ask your doctor or nurse. Having sex will not affect how well your treatment works. In some situations, they may advise you to be cautious about sex during treatment or immediately after it finishes.

For example, after surgery you may be advised to wait until your wound has healed. Side effects of pelvic radiotherapy, such as skin changes or tiredness, may make having sex difficult or you may not feel up to it. You may decide to wait until your side effects improve.

Pde5 Inhibitors: Viagra Levitra And Cialis

Approved by the FDA in 1998, sildenafil revolutionized the way we think about and treat erectile dysfunction, largely because it is so easy to use and effective. Since then the FDA has approved three closely related drugs, vardenafil , avanafil and tadalafil .

All four drugs work in a similar fashion, by affecting the normal physiology of the penis. In particular, they block PDE5, an enzyme that breaks down the erection-producing chemical cyclic guanosine monophosphate. This enables the penis to fill with blood and to stay erect long enough for intercourse. Of course, its important to realize that none of these drugs is an aphrodisiac. Youve got to feel sexually stimulated in order for them to work.

The main differences between the drugs have to do with timing: how quickly they begin to work, and how long their effects last . Levitra may start working slightly faster than Viagra although the FDA says that like Viagra, it should be taken about an hour before sexual activity. Some studies suggest that Levitra may help some men who dont respond to Viagra. And while some doctors are skeptical about this claim, theres no harm in trying Levitra or Cialis if Viagra doesnt work for you.

Cialis has also been approved to treat men with both erectile dysfunction and BPH. The dose is lower, usually 5 milligrams per day.

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Doctor Does Too Much Sex Enlarge The Prostate

Prostate cancer is the commonest cancer in men. There are concerns on whether frequent sex contributes to the development of prostate enlargement in general and especially in the evolvement of prostate cancer.

The prostate gland is an important part of the male reproductive system. It is a major contributor to the formation of the seminal fluid that comes with ejaculation at the peak of sexual intercourse in males.

It produces nourishing materials, especially the sugary fructose, for the wellbeing of sperm cells. It is located just below the bladder where urine is stored, and in front of the rectum the last portion of the large intestine where the feces is stored.

Prostate enlargement: 100 for 100

In anatomical relationship, the prostate surrounds the tube that drains the urine from the urinary bladder, just as the tube is leaving the bladder.

A point of fact is that the prostate gland is destined to enlarge in all men as they get older, albeit at different rates in men of different extractions. Anyhow it goes, it is estimated with corroborative findings on autopsy that all men who lived up to 100 years had enlarged prostate a case of 100 for 100!

The good thing however is that most prostate enlargements are usually of no clinical consequence and are not problematic or symptomatic to the affected men since the prostate growth are mostly non-cancerous and non-strangulating.

What Is Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men, right behind skin cancer. Prostate cancer is also the second most deadly cancer in American men. Prostate cancer is more frequent among African American men than it is among white men. Furthermore, African American men are more likely to die of prostate cancer than are white men.

The vast majority of prostate cancers are a type of cancer called adenocarcinoma. Adenocarcinomas arise from cells that produce fluids like mucus.

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Can I Have An Orgasm Without An Erection

Yes. An erection is not necessary for orgasm or ejaculation. Even if a man cannot have an erection or can only get or keep a partial erection, with the right sexual stimulation you can experience an orgasm. Your orgasm has little to do with your prostate gland. As long as you have normal skin sensation, you can have an orgasm.

Other Cancer Treatment Effects On Ejaculation

Some cancer treatments reduce the amount of semen thats produced. After radiation to the prostate, some men ejaculate less semen. Toward the end of radiation treatments, men often feel a sharp pain as they ejaculate. The pain is caused by irritation in the urethra . It should go away over time after treatment ends.

In most cases, men who have hormone therapy for prostate cancer also make less semen than before.

Chemotherapy and other drugs used to treat cancer very rarely affects ejaculation. But there are some drugs that may cause retrograde ejaculation by damaging the nerves that control emission.

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What Have I Learned By Reading This

You learned about:

• Why prostate cancer treatment can cause erectile dysfunction
• What can be done about erectile dysfunction
• How erectile dysfunction may affect your sex life
• What your partner can expect

If you have any questions, please talk to your doctor or health care team. It is important that you understand what is going on with your prostate cancer treatment. This knowledge will help you take better care of yourself and feel more in control. It will also help you manage any side effects you may have from your treatment.

Dealing With Erectile Dysfunction: For You And Your Partner

The following information is based on the general experiences of many prostate cancer patients. Your experience may be different. If you have any questions about what prostate cancer treatment services are covered by your health insurance, please contact your health care provider or health insurance provider. This education material was made possible by a Grant from the California Department of Justice, Antitrust Law Section, from litigation settlement funds to benefit Californians diagnosed with cancer or their families.

• Spanish

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What Will I Learn By Reading This

When you have treatment for your prostate cancer, you may have erectile dysfunction also known as impotence. Erectile dysfunction is a very common side effect . Side effects from prostate cancer treatment are different from one man to the next. They may also be different from one treatment to the next. Some men have no erectile dysfunction. The good news is that there are ways to deal with erectile dysfunction. In this booklet you will learn:

• What erectile dysfunction is
• Why prostate cancer treatment can cause erectile dysfunction
• What can be done about erectile dysfunction
• How erectile dysfunction may affect your sex life
• What your partner can expect

It is important for you to learn how to deal with erectile dysfunction so that you can continue to have a satisfying intimate relationship.

The Basics: How An Erection Occurs

At its most basic level, an erection is a matter of hydraulics. Blood fills the penis, causing it to swell and become firm. But getting to that stage requires extraordinary orchestration of body mechanisms. Blood vessels, nerves, hormones, and, of course, the psyche must work together. Problems with any one of these elements can diminish the quality of an erection or prevent it from happening altogether.

Nerves talk to each other by releasing nitric oxide and other chemical messengers. These messengers boost the production of other important chemicals, including cyclic guanosine monophosphate, prostaglandins, and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide. These chemicals initiate the erection by relaxing the smooth muscle cells lining the tiny arteries that lead to the corpora cavernosa, a pair of flexible cylinders that run the length of the penis .

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Sex And Your Prostate Cancer Risk

How can two pieces of research come to such different conclusions? “These studies are hard to do and the results may be more confusing than enlightening,” says Erik P. Castle, MD, FACS, an associate professor of urology at the Mayo Clinic.

“Asking men to talk about their sex life is not a reliable way to get evidence for a study,” adds John Milner, MD, an assistant professor of urology at Loyola Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago. As of 2012, there’s not enough evidence to say anything one way or the other about the number of ejaculations and the risk of prostate cancer.”

So what can you do for prostate cancer prevention? For one thing, resist the urge to light up a post-coital cigarette. A recent study from the Harvard School of Public Health, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that cigarette smoking increases your risk for dying from prostate cancer. The study, which included more than 5,000 men who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and were smokers, found that these men had a 61 percent higher chance of dying from the cancer than non-smokers.

Here are some other tips from the American Cancer Society for reducing your prostate cancer risk:

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Does Sex Protect Men Against Prostate Cancer

By Lisa Rapaport, Reuters Health

5 Min Read

– – Men who ejaculate often may have a lower risk of prostate cancer than their peers who dont do it as frequently, a U.S. study suggests.

Researchers followed about 32,000 men starting in 1992 when they were in their 20s and continuing through 2010. During this period, almost 4,000 of the men were diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Men who ejaculated at least 21 times a month in their 20s were 19 percent less likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than men who ejaculated no more than seven times a month, the study found. Men who ejaculated more often in their 40s were 22 percent less likely to get a prostate cancer diagnosis.

Ejaculation frequency is, to some extent, a measure of overall health status in that men at the very low end of ejaculation 0 to 3 times per month were more likely to have other and die prematurely from causes other than prostate cancer, said lead study author Jennifer Rider, who did the analysis while working at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.

While our findings should be confirmed in studies that evaluate the potential biological mechanisms underlying the observed associations, the results of our study suggest that ejaculation and safe sexual activity throughout adulthood could be a beneficial strategy for reducing the risk of prostate cancer, Rider, now at Boston University, added by email.

SOURCE: bit.ly/1RqJ3dK European Urology, online March 29, 2016.