Prostata cancer prophylaxis: masturbation

Sydney - Frequent masturbation, particularly in the 20s, could help prevent prostate cancer later in life.

Australian scientists have shown that the more men masturbate between the ages of 20 and 50, the less likely they are to develop the disease that claims the lives of more than half a million men annually.

"The more you flush the ducts out, the less there is to hang around and damage the cells that line them," says Graham Giles, who led the research team.

The survey of 1 079 prostate cancer patients and 1 259 healthy men found that those who masturbated or had sex at least once a day in their 20s were a third less likely to develop the malady.

'I don't believe in the blindness and hairy palms theory'
"For men in their 50s of course that's often not achievable," Giles told reporters on Thursday.

"(But) masturbation isn't bad for you. I don't believe in the blindness and hairy palms theory. Prohibitions against ejaculations are not based on science," he said.

The study, conducted between 1994 and 1998 but still being analysed, did not focus specifically on masturbation.

Nevertheless, it was the largest so far to ask participants not just about their sexual relations but also about masturbation, and to analyse the answers.

Giles said the findings correlate with previous research that showed Roman Catholic priests were 30 percent more likely to get prostate cancer, but they contradict other studies that suggested having a variety of partners or frequent sex could lift the risk.

One theory that could explain the new results is that semen may have a carcinogenic effect on the cells lining the prostatic ducts if not flushed regularly out of the pipes by ejaculations.

The research is due to be published in this weekend's British Journal of Urology International. - Reuters

Let me just say, so far, I have no cancer

Let me just say, so far, I have no cancer

Onyy thing is, what 20 year olds don't frequently masturbate?

....reading the article

I may be in trouble then.

I only did it on days ending in "y" -- and never more than four or five times per day.

Do you think I am at high risk?