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[Sportsjunkie]

An ejaculation a day may keep prostate cancer at bay
Wed Jul 16,10:43 PM ET

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Frequent masturbation may be really good for you.

Research by Australia's Cancer Council Victoria found that the more often men ejaculate between the ages of 20 and 50, the less likely they are to suffer the disease that kills more than half a million men each year.


The survey of 1,079 prostate cancer (news - web sites) patients and 1,259 healthy men found that those who masturbated or had sex at least once a day in their 20s were a third less likely to develop the malady.


"For men in their 50s of course that's often not achievable," Graham Giles, who led the research team, told Reuters on Thursday.


"(But) masturbation isn't bad for you. I don't believe in the blindness and hairy palms theory. Prohibitions against ejaculations are not based on science," he said.


The study, conducted between 1994 and 1998 but still being analysed, did not focus specifically on masturbation.


Nevertheless, it was the largest so far to ask participants not just about their sexual relations but also about masturbation, and to analyse the answers.


Giles said the findings correlate with previous research that showed Roman Catholic priests were 30 percent more likely to get prostate cancer, but they contradict other studies that suggested having a variety of partners or frequent sex could lift the risk.


One theory that could explain the new results is that semen may have a carcinogenic effect on the cells lining the prostatic ducts if not flushed regularly out of the pipes by ejaculations.


The research is due to be published in this weekend's British Journal of Urology International.