RESEARCH has revealed how many times men should have sex per month to cut their risk of prostate cancer.
It comes as a survey has found 43 per cent of men would fail to see their doctor about a key symptom of the disease.
GettyEjaculating at least 21 times a month can cut your risk of cancer, a study shows[/caption]
Getting up in the night to have a wee is common, occurring in around a quarter of men,
But only a fifth of them realise this could signal a problem with their prostate, according to new research from King Edward VII’s Hospital.
Some 29 per cent assume it’s due to old age, while 43 per cent wouldn’t see a doctor about it, reports the Daily Express.
Prostate cancer is the most common form of the disease in men, with around 47,000 Brits diagnosed every year.
One in eight will be diagnosed with the condition at some point in their life and 12,000 die with it every year.
It’s not clear, exactly, what causes the disease. But most of the risk factors – if you are 50 or older, black, obese or have a family history of it – aren’t changeable.
That’s why researchers were excited to find that there could be a modifiable risk factor – how much a man has sex.
But those not in a relationship don’t need to worry, as ejaculation through masturbation was included in the study.
US scientists interviewed nearly 32,000 men about their ejaculation habits and followed them to see if they got diagnosed with the killer disease.
Men aged 20 to 29 who climaxed 21 times a month (five times a week) were around a third less likely to suffer prostate cancer than those who only do four to seven times a month.
Those aged 40 to 49 were 32 per cent less likely, according to the findings.
Dr Jennifer Rider, of Boston University, said: “We evaluated whether ejaculation frequency throughout adulthood is related to prostate cancer risk in a large US-based study.
“We found that men reporting higher compared to lower ejaculatory frequency in adulthood were less likely to be subsequently diagnosed with prostate cancer.
“These findings provide additional evidence of a beneficial role of more frequent ejaculation throughout adult life in the aetiology of prostate cancer, particularly for low-risk disease.”
The study, published in European Urology in 2016, surveyed 31,925 men in 1992 and followed them until 2010.
The researchers had a number of theories to explain the link. For example, it is hypothesised that without frequently ejaculating, “carcinogenic secretions” are not flushed out.
An Australian study made similar conclusions.
The findings are not conclusive however, and more research needs to be made. But for now, there’s no harm in doctors prescribing ‘more sex’.
Symptoms of prostate cancer do not usually appear until the disease has spread enough the prostate is affecting the tube carrying urine from the bladder out the penis.
This can cause a stronger urge to pee, straining while you pee and feeling like you’ve not fully emptied your bladder afterwards.
If you are diagnosed with the disease, doctors may not suggest treatment if it is at an early stage and not causing symptoms.
However, later stage prostate cancer can be treated with surgery and radiotherapy, alongside hormone therapy.
Both can increase the risk of erectile dysfunction and incontinence, so are not recommended unless there is a risk the disease will spread.
Know the signs – how to spot prostate cancer
In most cases, prostate cancer doesn’t have any symptoms until the growth is big enough to put pressure on the urethra – that tube you pee through.
Symptoms include:
Needing to urinate more often, especially at night
Needing to rush to the toilet
Difficulty in starting to pee
Weak flow
Straining and taking a long time while peeing
Feeling that your bladder hasn’t emptied fully
Many men’s prostates get larger as they age because of the non-cancerous conditions, prostate enlargement and benign prostatic hyperplasia.
In fact, these two conditions are more common than prostate cancer – but that doesn’t mean the symptoms should be ignored.
The signs that the cancer has spread include bone, back or testicular pain, loss of appetite and unexplained weight loss.