New report shows that frequent sexual activity may reduce a man's risk of prostate cancer!
Frequent sexual activity may reduce a man's risk of prostate cancer, according to a study in the April 7 Journal of the American Medical Association.

The cancer risk in men who reported more than 20 monthly ejaculations was 33 percent less than that of other men, the Harvard University study showed.

"Almost all the previous research showed sexual activity increased cancer risk; men worried that by being very active, they put themselves at increased risk,'' said Michael F. Leitzmann, the lead researcher now at the National Cancer Institute. "Looking at the data in a little bit more detail, our findings suggest that ejaculation may even be associated with a slight decrease in prostate cancer risk.''

Researchers surveyed almost 30,000 health professionals, 1,449 of whom developed prostate cancer, and found an active sex life wasn't linked to a higher cancer risk in most men.

The latest study should be "reassuring to those men who may be more active than others," said Dr. Durado Brooks, prostate cancer director for the American Cancer Society.

One theory is that frequent ejaculations help flush out cancer-causing chemicals or reduce the development of calcifications that have been linked with prostate cancer.

But relatively few men in the study reported heavy sexual activity, so more research is needed to establish whether there is, in fact, a link, said Dr. Michael Leitzmann, a researcher at the National Cancer Institute who led the study.
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men, after skin cancer. One in every six men will develop it. The American Cancer Society estimates that this year, 230,900 new cases will be diagnosed and that about 29,900 men will die from prostate cancer.

Ejaculation also may release psychological tension, quieting central nervous system activity that may contribute to prostate- cell division and cancer growth, the researchers said.

The scientists downplayed results showing frequent ejaculation appeared to reduce cancer risk because only 7 percent of men fell into the group reporting the most activity and just 59 of them developed prostate cancer, Leitzmann said.

Almost all the previous research showed sexual activity increased cancer risk, he said. Those studies may have been biased because researchers asked patients to recall activities that occurred years earlier, before they were diagnosed with cancer and received treatment, which may interfere with sexual activity, he said.

"What we can say is that this hormonal hypothesis needs to be re-evaluated,'' said Leitzmann. "It would be good for future research to focus on different biological mechanisms.''

Click here to read the original medical study.