Men who are sexually active between 20 and 30 years are more likely to develop prostate cancer, especially if you masturbate frequently, according to a study of more than 800 men from the University of Nottingham and published in the edition January BJU International.
However, the research team of the United Kingdom also found that frequent sexual activity at forty years seemed to have little effect. In addition, some sexual activity at fifty years could reduce the risk of the disease.
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 years, along with 409 men in a control group.
Men who participated in the study were asked about all aspects of their sexual life in their twenties, including their age when sexual activity began, how often they masturbated and if they had sex, many couples had sex and whether they had been infected with sexually transmitted diseases.
“We wanted to examine the links between sexual activity and young men as a large number of prostate cancer studies focused on older men because the disease is more common in men over 50,” says lead author Dr. Polyxeni Dimitropoulou, who now works at the University of Cambridge.
“The hormones seem to play a key role in prostate cancer is very common to treat men with a therapy to reduce the hormones that can stimulate cancer cell growth. The man’s sexual desire is also regulated by the levels of certain hormones. Therefore, this study examined the theory that having a sexual desire may or may not affect the risk of prostate cancer. ”
Study participants who were recruited by their family doctors were asked to complete a questionnaire about their sexual habits in every decade of his life from twenty years.
All men with prostate cancer were diagnosed in the fifties. Most men who participated in the study (97%) were white and most were married (84%), the rest being widowed, separated or divorced (12%).
A number of interesting points reflected the study:
* 59% of men in both groups reported having engaged in sexual activity (intercourse or masturbation) 12 times or more per month to twenty years. This activity decreased steadily with age up to 48% at thirty years, to 28% at forty and 13% in their fifties.
* 39% of the cancer group had six or more partners, compared with 31% of the control group.
* Men with prostate cancer were more likely to have had a sexually transmitted disease than those who did not have prostate cancer.
- More men with prostate cancer in the groups were more frequent sexual activity every ten men in the control group. 40% of men in the cancer group fell into the category of most frequently within twenty (20 or more times per month), compared to 32% in the control group. Similar patterns were observed for men in their thirties and forties. For fifty years he had even, with 31% in each group entering the most frequent category (ten times or more per month).
Men with prostate cancer were more likely to masturbate frequently than men in the control group, with the greatest difference twenty years (34% versus 24%) and thirty (41% versus 31%). The differences were less pronounced in the forty (34% versus 28%) and fifty where the cancer group was slightly lower (25% versus 26%).
“What makes us stand out from other research studies, is that we have seen a younger age group than is normally involved in studying this disease, and that the study includes both sexual intercourse and masturbation in various stages of the lives of the participants, “says Dr. Dimitropoulou.
“Overall we found a significant association between prostate cancer and sexual activity in a man of twenty years and between masturbation and prostate cancer in their twenties and thirties. However, no significant association between the activity sexual and prostate cancer in a man of forty years.
“One possible explanation for the protective effect of fifty men seem to get sexual activity in general and masturbation in particular, is that the release of toxins accumulated during sexual activity reduces the risk of developing cancer in the area prostate. This theory, however, has not been firmly established and requires further investigation. “
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