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Does Not Masturbating Cause Prostate Cancer

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Why Does Prostate Cancer Happen

Does masturbation reduce the risk of prostate cancer? (Masturbation FAQ Series)

The causes of prostate cancer are largely unknown. However, certain things can increase your risk of developing the condition.

The chances of developing prostate cancer increase as you get older. Most cases develop in men aged 50 or older.

For reasons not yet understood, prostate cancer is more common in men of African-Caribbean or African descent, and less common in men of Asian descent.

Men who have first degree male relatives affected by prostate cancer are also at slightly increased risk.

Sexual Side Effects Include Erectile Dysfunction And Premature Ejaculation

An enlarged prostate is often treated with medication or surgery. However, these approaches can have sexual side effects that are not always discussed with patients, according to a recent report in the World Journal of Urology.

Many patients are unaware of the possible sexual side effects as a result of prostate cancer treatments.

The association was especially strong for younger and older men, the study found.

Erectile dysfunction and ejaculatory disorders like premature ejaculation are among the most common side effects.

When researchers surveyed 245 healthcare providers , they discovered that many did not discuss the sexual side effects of BPH treatment. In addition, many did not discuss treatment alternatives if their patients had sexual concerns.

Some treatments for an enlarged prostate and related urinary symptoms have sexual side effects. However, doctors dont always let patients know about them, according to a recent survey.

The medical term for an enlarged prostate is benign prostatic hyperplasia . As men get older, their prostate gland grows inward. For some men, the process causes urinary problems, since the enlarged tissue squeezes the urethra.

For the study, researchers surveyed 245 healthcare providers who were attending the 2015 World Congress of Endourology in London. Eighty-one percent of the respondents were urologists, specialists that typically treat an enlarged prostate.

The study was published online in April in the World Journal of Urology.

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What Is Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the second-most common cancer in men after skin cancers. The American Cancer Society estimates that 174,650 men in the US will receive a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2019, and 31,620 men will die from the disease . Prostate cancer develops in the prostate gland, a walnut-sized organ that sits between the bladder and the penis, right in front of the rectum. The prostate produces seminal fluid, which nourishes and transports sperm during ejaculation. According to the American Cancer Society, its not yet clear what causes prostate cancer though the clearest risk factors include age, a family history of the disease and being African American. Of course, these are things you cant change, but there are some other risk factors that you can. These include eating a diet that is lower in saturated fat , exercising regularly , and maintaining a healthy weight . These are pretty standard recommendations, of course. Upping how often you ejaculate, less so. But that could change.

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What Is The Evidence

Much of the public conversation surrounding this potential link came from a massive study conducted by researchers at Harvard University. Published in 2004, the study followed 29,342 men aged between 46 and 81 over an eight-year period. They were required to provide details on the historical frequency of their ejaculations and were given follow-up questionnaires every two years.

Specifically, they were asked the average number of times per month that they ejaculated during their twenties, their forties, and in the last year. Whilst the researchers were actually testing the hypothesis that frequent masturbation increases the risk of prostate cancer, the results suggested that the opposite was true.

Compared to those who only masturbated 4-7 times a month in their twenties, those who masturbated 21 times monthly showed a 31% decrease in their risk of developing prostate cancer in their later life. Masturbating a lot seemed to make prostate cancer a third less likely.

These results seemed to be corroborated by another study too. Investigating just over 2,000 men, this Australian study looked at the frequency of ejaculation between their twenties and forties. It found that men who ejaculated an average of 4.6 to 7 times a week had a 36% reduced chance of contracting prostate cancer before the age of 70 than those who only did it twice a week.

This Is How Often Men Should Be Masturbating To Reduce The Risk Of Cancer According To The Nhs

Prostate Cancer â Masturbation Zinc Testosterone Link ...

New findings show masturbating could reduce the risk of developing the most common type of cancer

Men should be masturbating more if they want to reduce their risk of developing cancer, according to the NHS.

Research published on the NHS website found the risk of prostate cancer was significantly lower in men who ejaculated at least 21 times a month through sex or masturbation.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, with more than 40,000 new cases every year.

Researchers from Harvard and Boston medical schools and universities studied 31,925 healthy men who completed a questionnaire about their ejaculation frequency back in 1992, reports the Plymouth Herald.

The men, who were aged 20-to-29 and 40-to-49, were monitored until 2010 and during that time 3,839 of them were diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The findings, , compare the 21-timers with men who ejaculate just four-to-seven times every four weeks.

The researchers found that the risk of prostate cancer in men in those age groups was significantly reduced if they ejaculated at least 21 times a month.

This was compared with men who ejaculated just four-to-seven times a month.

However, the researchers are not speculating on the reasons why ejaculating reduces the risk of prostate cancer.

Inflammation is a known cause of cancer, and ejaculation may help to ease this.

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Other Causes Of Prostate Cancer

While masturbation and testosterone levels may affect your chances, there are other factors that we know for sure play a role. For example, as with all cancers, older men are much more likely to develop prostate cancer than younger men.

Your genetics are one of the most important risk factors for prostate cancer too. If you have people in your family that have developed prostate cancer, you are more likely to develop it yourself. Interestingly, if people in your family have had breast cancer, your chance of developing prostate cancer is increased too.

Obesity is another risk factor that deserves a mention. One study found that men with obesity were 20% more likely to develop prostate cancer than lean men, whilst those severely obese were 34% more likely. Unfortunately, however, obese men are more likely to develop particularly aggressive forms of prostate cancer too.

Prostate Cancer Diagnoses And Treatment

All cancer is complex, but prostate cancer testing and treatment is particularly complicated.

In some men with prostate cancer, the cancer will grow very slowly, and wont significantly affect them during their lifetime. Other mens prostate cancer can grow and spread very quickly. At the moment, there is no test that can tell what type of prostate cancer a man has when he is diagnosed.

Because some treatments for prostate cancer can cause side effects which might impact on quality of life, its important for men to discuss with their doctor all their options for testing and treatment, and to discuss these with their partners and families. These might include watchful waiting, which means waiting to see what the cancer does over time, radiation, surgery or taking medications.

You can read more about what kinds of questions to ask your doctors about prostate cancer testing and treatment on the Cancer Council website.

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Masturbation May Increase Risk Of Prostate Cancer

ByLive Science Staff26 January 2009

Editor’s Note:This story was revised Jan. 28, 2008 after an email interview with the study’s lead author Polyxeni Dimitropoulou to address concerns that this research produced markedly different results than some previous studies on the topic.

A new study finds men who are sexually active in their 20s and 30s are more likely to develop prostate cancer especially if they masturbate frequently.

The message, perhaps: Hold off until middle age.

The study also found that frequent sexual activity in a man’s 40s appears to have little effect and even small levels of sexual activity in a man’s 50s could offer protection from the disease. Most of the differences were attributed to masturbation rather than sexual intercourse.

However, some previous studies had generated much different findings. The bottom line: More study is needed to settle this one.

The study, led by the University of Nottingham, looked at the sexual practices of more than 431 men who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer before the age of 60, together with 409 controls who do not have prostate cancer.

Among men with prostate cancer, 34 percent had masturbated frequently in their 20s, compared to 24 percent among the control group. A similar spread was found for men in their 30s.

The results, based on questionnaires, are detailed in the journal BJU International .

Other findings:

Masturbation Does Kneecap Sperm

Masturbation Prevents Prostate Cancer DEBUNKED

A frequently asked question what happens is we release sperm daily reveals another masturbation myth is that an effect of excessive sperm release is reduced sperm count or quality. While its true that semen volume decreases the more often you masturbate, studies suggest that sperm quality is not impacted in any meaningful way by frequent masturbation. To the contrary, long periods of abstinence have been linked to fertility problems. The following chart comes from a 2004 study, involving a small sample of 16 men. Researchers found that semen volume and sperm concentration increased slightly after 8 days of abstinence, but that sperm viability and motility remained roughly unchanged.

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Men Should Ejaculate At Least 21 Times A Month To Slash Their Prostate Cancer Risk

Milking the cow is good for stress, anxiety and sleep too

Cum one cum all. We have a story that all men should take notice of.

According to researchers at Harvard University men should ejaculate at least 21 times a month in order to mitigate their prostate cancer risk.

For the study, which was published in the journal European Urology, 31,925 men provided their average monthly ejaculation frequencies. From that the researchers found that men who ejaculate more frequently also slash their chances of developing prostate cancer by a third.

“We evaluated whether ejaculation frequency throughout adulthood is related to prostate cancer risk in a large US-based study,” wrote the study’s authors.

“We found that men reporting higher compared to lower ejaculatory frequency in adulthood were less likely to be subsequently diagnosed with prostate cancer.

“These findings provide additional evidence of a beneficial role of more frequent ejaculation throughout adult life in the aetiology of PC , particularly for low-risk disease.”

But a reduced chance of getting prostate cancer isn’t the only benefit of milking the cow. Ejaculating more frequently has also been found to dramatically reduce feelings of stress and anxiety.

“In addition to decreased feelings of pain, secretion of endorphins leads to feelings of euphoria, modulation of appetite, the release of sex hormones, and enhancement of the immune response,” says Medicine Net.

How Is Prostate Cancer Treated

For many men with prostate cancer, treatment is not immediately necessary.

If the cancer is at an early stage and not causing symptoms, a policy of “watchful waiting” or “active surveillance” may be adopted. This involves carefully monitoring your condition.

Some cases of prostate cancer can be cured if treated in the early stages. Treatments include surgically removing the prostate,radiotherapy and hormone therapy.

Some cases are only diagnosed at a later stage when the cancer has spread. If the cancer spreads to other parts of the body, typically the bones, it cannot be cured and treatment is focused on prolonging life and relieving symptoms.

All treatment options carry the risk of significant side effects, includingerectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence. For this reason, many men choose to delay treatment until there is a risk the cancer might spread.

Newer treatments, such as high-intensity focused ultrasound or cryotherapy, aim to reduce these side effects. Some hospitals may offer them as an alternative to surgery, radiotherapy or hormone therapy. However, the long-term effectiveness of these treatments are not yet known.

Read more about treating prostate cancer.

Also Check: Prostate Definitions

Frequent Sex May Be Protective

Hence, not until very recently, the mainstream hypothesis had been too much sex might provoke the development of prostate cancer but a recently published research study thinks the direct opposite, postulating that frequent sex may be a protective factor in prostate cancer.

The findings, published in the April 7 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association and reviewed on webmd.com, are based on data collected from nearly 30,000 predominately white men aged 46 to 81.

At the start of the study, men provided information on ejaculation frequency in their 20s, 40s, and in the previous year . Ejaculation frequency included sexual intercourse, masturbation, and nighttime ejaculations that can occur during sleep. The men were then monitored for eight years.

Ordinarily, researchers found most categories of ejaculation frequency were unrelated to prostate cancer risk. But when they looked at men in the highest category of ejaculation frequency , they found evidence of a protective effect.

According to Michael Leitzmann, MD, an investigator at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, USA, who conducted the research during a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University, when you look at the data in a little bit more detail, you do see that not only is there not an increased risk, but there is potentially even the possibility of a slight decrease in risk with high ejaculation frequency.

Prevention Diet: 7 Foods to Prevent an Enlarged Prostate

Can Masturbation Cause Cancer

Does masturbation cause prostate cancer

Most men are experts at performing masturbation. Some often do it regularly. With that much experience, youd think that you know all there is to know about masturbation. According to doctors, however, that may not be true. There’re still many things concerning masturbation that you ought to know about. Can masturbation cause cancer, for example? Can it harm you? Is there even such a thing as doing masturbation too much?

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Masturbation And Prostate Cancer: An Established Link

Whilst the evidence seems persuasive, its by no means categorical. Rather, subsequent studies have confused the picture once more.

A 2008 study, for example, found the opposite that a higher frequency of ejaculation in younger men led to an increased risk of prostate cancer before the age of 60. The numbers here were quite dramatic: compared to men who did it less than once a month, those who masturbated up to 7 times a week had a 79% higher risk of cancer.

The results of these studies do not show a certain link between ejaculation per se and cancer. Instead, frequent masturbation might point to other factors that themselves affect the risk of cancer. For example, men who masturbate more frequently might have higher testosterone, which appears to play a role in the development of prostate cancer.

Can Masturbation Cause Erectile Dysfunction

Erectile dysfunction can have eitherphysical and physiological causes, or be a combination of both.

ProfShingai Mutambirwa is the head of the urology department at theSefako Makgatho Health Sciences University in Pretoria, South Africa.

He told Africa Check there wasnt credible scientific proof that masturbation causes erectile dysfunction. There is no good evidence for this, he said.

According toJohn Hopkins Medicine in the US, erectile dysfunctionis mainly caused by physical problems, usually related to the blood supply of the penis.

Erectile dysfunction can increase the risk of premature ejaculation, which is when a man ejaculates sooner during sex than he or his partner would like. Masturbationcan be one wayof treating prematureejaculation.

Also Check: How Effective Is Chemotherapy For Prostate Cancer

Study 2 Sexual Activity And Prostate Cancer Risk In Men Diagnosed At A Younger Age

A case-control study at the British Association of Urological Surgeons Section of Oncology has collected information from over 800 individuals regarding their sexual activityparticularly how often they masturbated.

It was revealed that frequent masturbation activity is a factor that decreases the risk of prostate cancer in older men.

While the result is inconsistent with men in their 20s, the findings point to the different effects for older men. Somehow, frequent masturbation has a protective effect on the prostate gland, indicating the benefits of masturbation.

Lowering Prostate Cancer Risk

Is Prostate Cancer Preventable? Does Ejaculation Help?

While medicine is not yet able to change PCa risk factors such as genetics, considerable research goes into lifestyle changes that can lower the odds of developing PCa. These include things like diet, exercise, stress management, quitting smoking, and avoiding exposure to environmental toxins. Apparently, its time to put sexual behavior on that list.

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Things You Should Know About Masturbation

Even men who masturbate a lot probably dont know everything there is to know about the behavior, such as “can masturbation cause cancer?” Here are some little known facts about masturbation that you should know about.

1. There’s No Such Thing as “Abnormal” Masturbation

Men often are curious as to whether or not there is something wrong with the way they masturbate. Most experts dont refer to masturbation as being normal or abnormal in nature. People do masturbation differently so there is no normal way to do it. You can use your hands, use a special sex toy, wear certain clothing, look at magazines, rub the penis against something, or try different positions in order to masturbate.

2. Masturbation Is Very Safe — but Not Entirely Safe

Masturbation is safer than sex because it can’t give you an STD. It won’t give you a strain in your muscles or cause you to get poked in the eye as can happen with sex with a partner. However, though safer than sex, it does carry some risks. For example, masturbation that is overly vigorous can irritate the skin on the penis. You can also irritate the urethra by thrusting against carpet, a sheet, or a pillow. In rare conditions, masturbation can result in a fracture of the penis. This is a medical emergency that often needs surgery to correct.

3. Masturbation Can Increase Your Sex Life — or Ruin It

4. Some Types of Masturbation Can Cause Sexual Dysfunction

5. Masturbation Might Not Offer the Same Health Benefits That Sex Does

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