Once a day keeps prostate cancer away?
Study: Frequent ejaculations may protect against disease
Sexual activity does not cause prostate cancer, and men who ejaculate
frequently may even be protecting themselves against the disease, U.S.
researchers reported on Tuesday.
The study, which involved more than 29,000 healthy men and covered sex
of all kinds including masturbation and nocturnal emissions, confirms a
smaller Australian study from last July that reached similar
conclusions, the authors said.
Most of the previous research into the question was on whether sexual
frequency caused prostate cancer, on the theory that increased
production of the male hormone testosterone could prompt prostate cell
growth, the study's chief author, Michael Leitzmann, said in an
interview.
Frequency may protect
But the new research found that "ejaculation frequency is not related to
an increased risk. There is no adverse effect. And ... higher elevations
of ejaculation appear to protect men from developing prostate cancer,"
said Leitzmann, a physician and investigator at the National Cancer
Institute.
Test yourself
•What's your risk for prostate cancer?
The study suggested that frequent ejaculations may decrease the
concentration of "chemical carcinogens which readily accumulate in
prostatic fluid" and may reduce the development of crystalloids "which
have been associated with prostate cancer in some."
The prostate is a small gland that produces some of the fluid for semen.
Prostate cancer is the second most common kind of cancer (after skin
cancer) diagnosed among U.S. men, and is highly survivable if caught in
time.
'Flush the ducts'
The new study, published in this week's Journal of the American Medical
Association, was based on an ongoing survey covering a variety of health
issues of thousands of men who were 40 to 75 when the study began in
1986. In 1992 they were asked to report the average number of
ejaculations they had per month during ages 20 to 29, 40 to 49 and
during the previous year. In later surveys they were asked to report if
they had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The earlier Australian study published in July 2003 by the Cancer
Council Victoria found that the more often men ejaculated between the
ages of 20 and 50, the less likely they were to suffer from prostate
cancer.
That survey, which covered 1,079 prostate cancer patients and 1,259
healthy men, found that those who had sex at least once a day in their
20s were a third less likely to develop the malady.
"The more you flush the ducts out, the less there is to hang around and
damage the cells that line them," Graham Giles, lead author of the
earlier study said at the time.

An estimated 28,900 American men will die from prostate cancer in 2003.
After lung cancer, it is the second most common cause of cancer
mortality in U.S. men, accounting for 11 percent of cancer deaths. About
90 percent of men with prostate cancer survive at least five years after
diagnosis, and two-thirds live 10 years or more. Early detection and
treatment boost survival.
Prostate cancer occurs when malignant cells form and spread through the
prostate gland. The malignant cells develop when changes occur in DNA,
the genetic material containing the "instructions" for all types of
cells. When DNA is altered, normal cells can grow abnormally and form
cancer. Exactly how DNA is altered in prostate cancer remains unclear.
However, a number of factors have been implicated in prostate cancer
development, including advancing age, African-American race, a family
history of the disease and a high-fat diet.
Most cases of early prostate cancer cause no symptoms and are identified
only by routine screening tests. However, some patients may experience a
slowing or weakening of the urinary stream or the need to urinate more
often. Symptoms of advanced prostate cancer include blood in the urine,
impotence, and pain in the pelvis, spine, hips or ribs.
The uncertainty about the causes and controllable risk factors for
prostate cancer complicates prevention. The best evidence available
relates to dietary habits. Following a balanced diet that is low in fat
and emphasizes fruits, vegetables and grain products may help reduce
cancer risk.
The American Cancer Society and other groups recommend annual prostate
cancer screening for all men beginning at age 50. Such screening
involves a blood test for prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a protein
produced by the prostate, as well as a digital rectal exam, in which a
physician palpates the gland. Men who have an increased risk for
prostate cancer (such as African-Americans and men with a family history
of the disease) are advised to get tested earlier, usually at age 45.
However, due to some conflicting evidence on the benefits of these tests
for all men, not all doctors recommend widespread screening. If certain
symptoms or the results of early detection tests have raised the
possibility of prostate cancer, biopsies and possibly other tests will
be performed to confirm a diagnosis.
Prostate cancer may be treated with prostatectomy (surgery to remove the
prostate), radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy or a combination of
treatments. Depending on a man's age and the stage of the cancer,
doctors also may recommend "watchful waiting" - leaving the cancer
untreated until it shows signs of becoming more aggressive or spreading.
This latter approach is most commonly recommended for elderly men who
have slow-growing tumors. Treatment side effects can include impotence
and urinary incontinence.
Sources: American Cancer Society; Oncology.com• Print this
Leitzmann said his new study is consistent with the Australian findings,
and may even be stronger because it tracked men over time rather than
asking them to recall ejaculation frequency only after they had already
been diagnosed with cancer.
That kind of recall can be distorted, he said, because the cancer brings
diminished sexual activity with it.

knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional    
"Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is
invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so."