:bawl: So is sex bad or good? And what does a sock have to do with anything? :shrug: Drop that Sock! Masturbation May Cause Cancer New study links ejaculation frequencies to rates of prostate cancer; but the jury's still out The hairy palms don’t sound so bad, and the blindness seems manageable. But cancer! It’s bad news for both Don Juans and subscribers to Swank Magazine, as a new paper in the British Journal of Urology International (BJU) reports a statistically significant correlation between the frequency of sex and masturbation to the early onset of prostate cancer. But doctors disagree over the link between sexual activity and prostate cancer. While a 2002 paper in the journal Epidemiology backs the BJU (really?! BJU!?) study, a 2004 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and a 2003 paper from the Australian Cancer Council Victoria claim that frequent masturbation and intercourse actually decreases the risk of prostate cancer. The BJU study, conducted by a team from the University of Nottingham in England, looked at one group of 431 men who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer before the age of 60, and 409 men who did not have the disease. Of the 431 men with cancer, 40 percent of the men reported masturbating or engaging in sexual activity more than 20 times a month during their 20’s. Additionally, the cancer group also had a larger percentage of men who reported having more than six female partners in their life. And the men in the cancer group were also more likely to report having once had a sexually transmitted disease. However, in the JAMA paper from five years ago, men who reported ejaculating more than 20 times a month showed a 33 percent lower lifetime risk for prostate cancer than men who reported only ejaculating between four and seven times a month. In contrast to the BJU study, which only looked at heterosexual sex and masturbation in 840 men, the JAMA study looked at all ejaculation for 29,342 men. Similarly, the Australian study compared 1,079 prostate cancer patients and 1,259 healthy men, and found that the men who ejaculated at least once a day during their 20’s were a third less likely to develop prostate cancer. With evidence on both sides of the debate, doctors seem to be hedging their bets. Michael Leitzmann, a doctor at the National Cancer Institute and the lead author of the JAMA study told Reuters that he didn’t believe his study should lead to men altering their sexual behavior, a position reiterated by the Mayo Clinic. Since the jury’s still out on the effects of ejaculation on cancer risk, it might be premature to either hoard Viagra or to cancel the Playboy subscription. Of course, all you reading this online should still probably get at least your eyesight checked out. After all, we know what you really use the Internet for.
On numbers and methodology these appear to be the superior studies. Although there are statements in your article about the “jury being out”, I would bet that the weight of opinion lies with the ‘it-makes-no-difference’ and the ‘it-has-a-protective-effect’ camps.
from the BJU study, isnt it apparent that it is sex from many partners, the STD's as a result of it, and thus a higher chance of prostate cancer in these men.
Acording to this: "Doctors disagree over the link between sexual activity and prostate cancer. While a 2002 paper in the journal Epidemiology backs the BJU study, a 2004 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and a 2003 paper from the Australian Cancer Council Victoria claim that frequent masturbation and intercourse actually decreases the risk of prostate cancer. " So just think about it that way until more facts are known and a better understanding is available.
How funny. In my day they told us that not having enough sex was unhealthy. The prostate would get swollen from the excess semen and then become enlarged. Supposedly that irritation was carcinogenic. I remember my doctor telling me that prostate cancer was the big killer of Catholic priests. (Notwithstanding the news stories, they really are not ALL out there diddling little boys.) Whichever way the truth goes, Orly, you need to learn to interpret statistics more wisely--to become more "numerate," which will make you a rare American these days. For starters, they seem to be talking about sexual activity for men in their 20s. Especially considering the astounding figures for frequency. (Where would you ever find enough people in their forties who do it five times every week, to constitute an adequate-size study group???) It doesn't look like anything he does or doesn't do now is going to make much of a difference.
How do they keep track of men in their 20s who decades later get prostate cancer? How long has this study been going on? Are we supposed to believe men who say they have sex every day?
the sock or the cancer? I just read where cello scrotum is a joke, so now I'm wondering if this is as well. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5601050.ece
I still have a hard time believing men in their 20s who say they have sex that often. How do they keep track of men in their 20s who decades later get prostate cancer? How long has this study been going on?
lThe study said sex or masturbation. That's not hard to believe at all. I'll bet most men masturbate or have sex every day or two. A quick google search found: I don't know how reliable that site is, but the once a day figure seems to pop up a lot:
ah, true. Does this mean they have been studying the sex lives of men from their 20s til they are the age when prostate cancer is more common?
Mod note: There seems to be two simultaneous threads happening here – one on the science of ejaculation in relation to prostate cancer risk, and a second on masturbation in general. The latter is starting to outweigh the former. The former is appropriate for the B&G forum but I think the latter is better suited to the Human Science forum. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! So, I have made a new thread in Human Science where general discussions on masturbation can be continued (Masturbation and Socks). Scientific discussions can be continued here.
