The first thing that came to my mind when I read this press release was; B.S.! The second thing that came to mind was that this release smacked of an agenda; a double or triple agenda actually (anti-sex and anti-masturbation plus population control). And the third thing that came to mind was the numerous articles in the British press over the past few years that talked about population control and how the British government and an organization for population control is concerned that the UK population will exceed 70-75 million by about 2051; and that they must curb the birth rate. There's also talk that GPs should tell parents not to have more than two children to help in the battle against climate change. Personally I have mixed feelings on this subject; but the fact remains, if you need ammunition to help persuade people that it's a good idea then a study on the 'dangers of having sex' would be a good start.
Who paid for this 'study' and what was their motivations for it? The answer to these questions could be very illuminating. It doesn't state in the press release who else was involved or paid for the research.
The Press Release:
START QUOTE
Frequent sex and masturbation in 20s and 30s linked to higher prostate cancer risk
But study also shows that risks diminish with age, particularly in a man's 50s
Men who are very sexually active in their twenties and thirties are more likely to develop prostate cancer, especially if they masturbate frequently, according to a study of more than 800 men published in the January issue of BJU International.
However the UK research team also found that frequent sexual activity in a man's forties appears to have little effect and even small levels of activity in a man's fifties could offer protection from the disease. Most of the differences were attributed to masturbation rather than sexual intercourse.
The study, led by the University of Nottingham, looked at the sexual practices of more than 431 men who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer before the age of 60, together with 409 controls.
Men who took part in the study were asked about all aspects of their sex life from their twenties onwards, including how old they were when they became sexually active, how often they masturbated and had intercourse, how many sexual partners they had had and whether they had had any sexually transmitted diseases.
"We were keen to look at the links between sexual activity and younger men as a lot of prostate cancer studies focus on older men as the disease is more prevalent in men over 50" says lead author Dr Polyxeni Dimitropoulou, who is now at the University of Cambridge.
"Hormones appear to play a key role in prostate cancer and it is very common to treat men with therapy to reduce the hormones thought to stimulate the cancer cells. A man's sex drive is also regulated by his hormone levels, so this study examined the theory that having a high sex drive affects the risk of prostate cancer."
The study participants, who were recruited by their family doctors, were asked to fill in a questionnaire about their sexual habits in each decade of their life since their twenties.
All the men with prostate cancer had been diagnosed in their fifties. Most of the men who took part in the study (97%) were white and the majority were currently married (84%) or widowed, separated or divorced (12%).
A number of interesting points came out of the study:
59% of the men in both groups said that they had engaged in sexual activity (intercourse or masturbation) 12 times a month or more in their twenties. This fell steadily as they got older, to 48% in their thirties, 28% in their forties and 13% in their fifties.
39% of the cancer group had had six female partners or more, compared with 31% of the control group.
Men with prostate cancer were more likely to have had a sexually transmitted disease than those without prostate cancer.
More men with prostate cancer fell into the highest frequency groups in each decade when it came to sexual activity (intercourse and masturbation) than men in the control group. 40% of men in the cancer group fell into the highest frequency category in their twenties (20 or more times a month) compared to 32% in the control group. Similar patterns were observed in the men's thirties and forties. By the fifties it had evened out, with 31% in each group falling into the most frequent category (ten or more times a month).
Men with prostate cancer were also more likely to masturbate frequently than men in the control group, with the greatest difference in the twenties (34% versus 24%) and thirties (41% versus 31%). The differences were less pronounced in their forties (34% versus 28%) and by the fifties the cancer group was slightly lower (25% versus 26%).
"What makes our study stand out from previous research is that we focused on a younger age group than normal and included both intercourse and masturbation at various stages in the participants' lives" says Dr Dimitropoulou.
"Overall we found a significant association between prostate cancer and sexual activity in a man's twenties and between masturbation and prostate cancer in the twenties and thirties. However there was no significant association between sexual activity and prostate cancer in a man's forties.
"A possible explanation for the protective effect that men in their fifties appear to receive from overall sexual activity, and particularly masturbation, is that the release of accumulated toxins during sexual activity reduces the risk of developing cancer in the prostate area. This theory has, however, not been firmly established and further research is necessary."
END QUOTE
Comments About the 'facts' in the press release:
- It says: the study looked at the sexual practices of more than 431 men. Question: How many more men? One, two, three? Was it 432 men? Why not say so? This to me smacks of 'weasle numbers'. Moreover, that's a pretty small number of people to use in the study. Better yet, as John Neate, , chief executive of The Prostate Cancer Charity notes over at the BBC: "The study is retrospective, and asks men to complete a questionnaire about their sexual history." (20 or 30 years previously) And this: "The sample used in the study is also relatively small, making it difficult to draw any universal conclusions."
- The last paragraph of the release says: "A possible explanation for the protective effect that men in their fifties appear to receive from overall sexual activity, and particularly masturbation, is that the release of accumulated toxins during sexual activity reduces the risk of developing cancer in the prostate area."
Question: Why wouldn't it be the same case for a man in his 20's? Surely a man in his 20's has accumulated toxins that could benefit from release as well…
Wasn't there a study that claimed just the opposite?
I recalled that there were at least two, so I went and dug them up:
- Frequent ejaculation may protect against cancer (A 2004 report on a U.S. study that followed 30,000 men over 8 years)
- Masturbating may protect against prostate cancer (A 2003 report on an Australian study that compared 1079 men with prostate cancer and 1259 healthy men of the same age.)
Did the researchers even check those two much larger studies out?
In conclusion: the findings in this study are bogus and need to be backed by more evidence; the persons who funded this research need to be named and the person(s) who conducted this research need to come out of anonymity, instead of scaremongering from the shadows.
Related Links News:
- UK Population 'at least 75m by 2051'
- Population control 'needs debate'
- Limit families to two children 'to combat climate change'
- Tougher rules for immigration aimed at curbing population rise UK
- BBC: Sex drive link to prostate cancer
- The Prostate Cancer Charity
