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Topics: Cancer, Health, Sex and Relationships, Science
Callum Jones
Topics: Cancer, Health, Sex and Relationships, Science
A study looking into a link between orgasms and the development of prostate cancer has revealed how many times a man should ejaculate per month to prevent the disease.
The American Cancer Society states that one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime, with over 35,000 men in the US set to die from the horrible disease in 2025.
Six in ten prostate cancers are diagnosed in men who are 65 or older, while the risk is said to be higher in African American men and in Caribbean men of African ancestry.
Prostate cancer is also the second-leading cause of cancer death in men, behind only lung cancer, the American Cancer Society reports.
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As a result, it's important to understand what men can do to help minimise the risk of being diagnosed with the disease.
Well, studies have found that ejaculating once every day can reduce your chances, with one study stating having 21 orgasms a month reduces the risk of developing prostate cancer by a whopping 20 percent.
Researchers at Harvard University made the discovery after studying 31,925 men, who filled out three questionnaires about ejaculation frequency between 1992 and 2010.
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The survey, published in European Urology in 2016, stated: "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 PCa [prostate cancer], particularly for low-risk disease."
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Not only can masturbating reduce an individual's chances of developing prostate cancer, it's also said to promote better sleep.
This was highlighted by German health insurance provider Barmer Krankenkasse, which previously advised: "Masturbation helps you fall asleep.
"If you can’t sleep again, just use your hand to pleasure yourself, or use a toy, then sleep comes all by itself."
On top of this, registered sex therapist Judith Golden told Reader’s Digest: Best Health how masturbation can be of great help to those who suffer from insomnia.
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She said: "Just as people fall into a deep sleep after sex with a partner, because blood pressure is lowered and relaxation is increased through the release of endorphins, masturbation is a good sleeping pill.
"It is relied on by many as a nightly occurrence."