Ghana: Prostate Cancer - Frequency of Ejaculation and Reduced Risk ... Multiple Sexual Partners and Increased Risk & Benefits of Sex in the Prostate (2)

7 December 2022
Ghanaian Times (Accra)
opinion

That's because this type of study can-not assess whether sex causes cancer. It can only deter-mine whether there is a correlation between the two. Also, we already know of ways that sexual behavior can indirectly affect cancer risk without actually causing cancer, especially through sexually transmitted infections. Some of the strongest connections are for:

- Human papilloma virus (HPV), which increases the risk of cancers of the cervix, mouth, penis, and anus

- Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, which in-creases the risk of cancers such as Kaposi's sarcoma and lymphoma

- Hepatitis B and hepatitis C infection, which have been linked to liver cancer

- Gonorrhea, increases the risk of prostate cancer (particularly among African American men).

Though negative studies have been confirmed with multiple partners and prostate cancer risk, others (Spencer et al. 2014; Kotb et al. 2015) ) contradict this assertion and found that males who had more than 20 female sexual partners had a decreased risk of prostate cancer. The study also found that males with more than 20 male sexual partners may have an increased risk of prostate cancer.

WHAT ARE MULTIPLE SEXUAL PARTNERS?

Mutinta, G(2018) defines having multiple sexual partners as "having more than one sexual partner over some time." This may mean having one sexual partner, then another. Or it may mean having more than one sexual partner within the same time frame. This article looks at the average number of sexual part-ners that people may have. It also explores some possible benefits and risks of having multiple sexual partners.

THE QUESTION ON THE FREQUENCY OF EJACULATION

Now that we are done with the first question on whether more women increase men's risk of prostate cancer. Let us now examine the science on whether the more we ejaculate increase or decrease our chances of prostate cancer. You may have heard of the prostate gland -- part of the male reproduc-tive system. It's a small gland inside your body that makes fluid for your semen. This fluid gets carried out of your body when you ejaculate.

Because your prostate is involved in ejaculation, it's natural to wonder: When it comes to getting prostate cancer, does ejaculation frequen-cy matter? In other words, does ejaculating affect the risk of getting prostate cancer?

Here's the short answer: It's not clear. There's some evidence that more frequent ejaculation might of-fer some protection against prostate cancer. But the reality is there isn't enough research to say for sure. On the other hand, there's clear evidence that sex does not cause prostate can-cer. Ok, let's examine the literature.

The first study from Harvard was conducted by (Leitzmann et al. 2004) found that if you ejaculate frequently (21 times), your risk of getting pros-tate cancer may be reduced. Then, a previous study emerged from Australia ( Giles et al. 2003) points to seven times a week. But there is a catchphrase (Dimitropoulou et al. 2008) that says it is only a preventa-tive mechanism in men aged 50 and older.

Aboul-Enein et al. (2016) also found that the age a man starts ejaculating is an import-ant aspect of prostate cancer prevention. This study looks at ejaculation from the perspec-tive of masturbation.

As age is important at the onset of ejaculation and pros-tate cancer reduction, Dimi-tropoulou et al. (2008) found that men were more likely to develop prostate cancer if they were very sexually active in their twenties and thirties. The study also found no conclusive evidence that masturbation provides greater risk than intercourse.

The Harvard study (Leitz-mann et al. 2004) found no association with the age asso-ciation findings from the 2008 study.

It found no increased risk of prostate cancer related to the age of ejaculation, though it did show that the benefits increase as a man ages.

The Australian study ( Giles et al. 2003) found a reduced risk of prostate cancer if frequent ejaculation occurred during young adulthood. One study(Gottlieb, S. 2004), exam-ined the sex life of over 50,000 American males between the ages of 40 and 75 and found that men reporting 21 or more ejaculations a month were less likely to get prostate cancer than men who ejaculated four to seven times a month. Though the studies are conflicting on age and ejaculation and frequency. It appears that the frequency of ejaculation benefits men in totality on a specific amount. How much?

One Harvard study, Rider et al. (2016) reported similar findings with a 10-year follow-up study that reported that men who had frequent orgasms (defined as two or more a week) had a 20 percent reduced risk of prostate cancer and had a 50 per-cent lower mortality risk than those who had sex less often.

On the other hand, Giles et al.(2003) from Australia, found the risk was reduced by 36 percent when men ejaculated seven times a week.

In noting the difference, the first study was found in men who report-ed 21 or more ejaculations a month, and the second reported men who ejaculated two or more a week.

So when we study the second study critically, it means that in a month these men also ejaculated about eight times and they also experienced a reduced risk of prostate cancer. This means that to reduce prostate cancer a man above 40 years must ejaculate a minimum of twice a week. In what accounts for the type of ejaculation, a previ-ous review(Brody, S. 2010) found that men who had more frequent penile-vaginal intercourse (PVI) had less risk of developing prostate cancer.

This means not any type of ejaculation, but a man must have intercourse with a regular female partner to experience this reduced risk of prostate cancer.

Another study also found that men who averaged having 4.6 to 7 ejaculations a week were 36 per-cent less likely to receive a prostate cancer diagnosis before the age of 70. This is in comparison to men who reported ejaculating 2.3 or fewer times a week on average. This study is in support of Rider et al. (2016) who attribute it to a minimum of twice per week. For men, sex may even affect their mortality. Although results are conflicting, the quality and health of our sperm may increase with increased sexual activity(Agarwal et al. 2016).

How sex reduces prostate cancer risk

One possible explanation for why frequent ejaculation might protect against prostate cancer is that it may help clear potentially cancer-causing substances from the prostate,

Take Home

So does frequent ejaculation protect you from prostate can-cer? There's some evidence that ejaculating a lot is associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer, but the evidence isn't good enough to say for sure one way or another.

However, two studies present the best supporting evidence so far:

[The writer is a Professor of Naturopathic Healthcare, President, of Nyarkotey College of Holistic Medicine & Technology (NUCHMT)/ African Naturopathic Foundation.]

BY PROF. RAPHAEL NYARKOTEY OBU

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