Prostate cancer: Ejaculating six times a week can reduce risk

Two major studies have uncovered significant benefits from a habit that surprised many doctors. Their results suggested that the more times a man orgasms the less likely he will contract prostate cancer - one of the biggest killers of men.

The data came initially from the prestigious Health Professionals Follow-Up Study which has been collecting lifestyle, behavioural and dietary information from over 30,000 participants for nearly 20 years.

In this aspect of the study men between the ages of 46 and 81 provided information about their average number of ejaculations per month they had at various stages of their lives. The men were all American health care providers, including dentists, pharmacists, doctors, veterinarians, optometrists, ophthalmologists, and podiatrists. Ejaculations were defined as those enjoyed during sexual intercourse, nocturnal emissions and masturbation.

The study found that men who reported ejaculating 21 or more times a month compared to men who had four to seven ejaculations per month, on average across their lifetimes, enjoyed a 31 per cent lower risk of prostate cancer. What’s more, the results held up to rigorous statistical evaluation even after other lifestyle factors such as exercise, smoking, obesity, phytochemical rich foods intake and the frequency of PSA testing were taken into account.

Confirmation that this link between sex and prostate cancer is genuine came from a completely separate study evaluating the habits of 2,338 men from Australia. This research group found that men who averaged 4.6 to seven ejaculations a week were 36 per cent less likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer before the age of 70 years compared to men who ejaculated less than 2.3 times a week on average.

The precise reason why the number of ejaculations influences cancer risk is not certain but the most commonly accepted theory is that the flow of spermatic fluid through the prostatic ducts after ejaculation reduces the time potentially carcinogenic secretions come in contact with the cells - prostate stagnation hypothesis.

Another theory is that ejaculation reduces the formation of irritating intraluminal crystalloids which can cause inflammation in the spermatic ducts. Higher ejaculatory frequency may also be linked to lowering of psychological tension and stress.

At first glance these study data imply that many UK men would have to ‘pick up their game’ in order to reduce their risk of prostate cancer. Most surveys report that although men in 20s tend to ejaculate four to eight times a week, by the time they reach 50 it’s more like two to three on a good week.

Reading between the lines of these studies, however, provides reassurance for middle-aged men, many of whom are unlikely to keep up with this rate of ejaculation . The published figures are actually an average of the ejaculation rate over a life time with the strongest correlation being a link to a higher frequency of ejaculations in young adulthood, even though prostate cancer was not diagnosed until many decades later.

This means that increasing ejaculation rate when older, provided you had high rates when young, is unlikely to statistically influence the risk. There may well be other reasons why young men with low ejaculation rates have higher rates of prostate cancer including depression and low testosterone levels. It may surprise many people that the latest studies have shown that low testosterone levels throughout life is linked to a higher prostate cancer rate.

So, in conclusion, in the first instance, this data should reassure men that sex including masturbation, contrary to some cultural misconceptions is actually beneficial and perhaps will encourage couples to be more sexually active either with intercourse or sexual play.

Secondly, although maintaining two to three ejaculations a week would seem optimal in middle-aged man, if this level of ejaculation is not achievable or desirable, a man should not be too concerned, after all sex is meant to be enjoyable not a chore.

There are plenty of other equally valid lifestyle factors which correlate with a lower risk of prostate cancer including:

• Exercising three hours a week
• Ensuring adequate vitamin D levels by sensible sun exposure
• Eating more phytochemical-rich fruit, cruciferous vegetables and spices
• Reducing meat and particularly processed meat
• Improving gut health
• A few glasses of red wine a week
• Ditching processed sugar.
• Quitting smoking
• Avoid being overweight or obese
• Eating more nuts
• Cleaning teeth and improving oral hygiene
• Avoiding vitamin E supplements
• Eating more unfermented soy
• Eating oily fish 2-3 times a week
• Avoiding very high intake of dairy products