New research out of Harvard University has found that ejaculating at least 21 times a month significantly reduces a man’s risk of prostate cancer.
The findings are based on comparisons to those who release just four-to-seven times every four weeks — and are true regardless of whether men achieve orgasm through masturbation or sex, the research adds.
While scientists did not evaluate why ejaculation protects against prostate cancer, past research suggests it helps to rid the gland of cancer-causing substances and infections.
Ejaculation may also help to ease inflammation, which is a known cause of cancer.
THE STUDY
For the study, researchers from Harvard University analyzed 31,925 healthy men who completed a questionnaire about their ejaculation frequency in 1992 and tracked them for 18 years, through 2010.
Ejaculation was defined broadly and could be as a result of sex or masturbation. Monthly ejaculation frequency was assessed in men aged 20-to-29, 40-to-49 and the year before the questionnaire was completed.
Over the course of the study, 3,839 (or 12.02%) of the study’s participants were diagnosed with prostate cancer.
FINDINGS
Results revealed that ejaculating at least 21 times a month significantly reduces the risk of prostate cancer in men aged 20-to-29 and 40-to-49.
This is compared to ejaculating just four-to-seven times a month.
The researchers wrote: ‘We found that men reporting higher compared to lower ejaculatory frequency in adulthood were less likely to be subsequently diagnosed with prostate cancer.’
The findings were published in the journal European Urology.
EJACULATION REDUCES CANCER RISK
The researchers did not speculate on why ejaculation helps to ward off prostate cancer.
Yet, past research by the same university suggests that emptying the prostate of cancer-causing substances and infections may have some benefit. Ejaculation may also help to reduce prostate inflammation, which is a known cause of cancer.
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