Sex is mostly seen as a pleasurable act, even though medical experts have said repeatedly that it is medicinal and a form of exercise.
Regardless, sexual intercourse is deemed to be one of the most enjoyable acts for both men and women. However, reaching orgasm, which is a climax of sexual excitement, characterised by feelings of pleasure centered in the genitals, has been found to reduce the likelihood of men having prostate cancer.
In fact, apart from the health benefits of sex, it has been proven that reaching orgasm could improve one’s health. Despite boosting testosterone levels, it helps men and women to sleep better and reduce insomnia, while relieving them of stress, because the oxytocin hormone released in the process relieves tension and stimulates feelings of warmth and relaxation.
Also, previous studies have shown that apart from enhancing people’s sense of smell, the oxytocin hormone released during orgasm helps people’s social feel, enhance their trust and bonding with others.
Notably, men’s orgasm is complemented by ejaculation. But, interestingly, a study has shown that apart from reaching the peak of sexual enjoyment, an orgasm a day can lower a man’s risk of prostate cancer, which is one of the most common types of cancer in men and it is common in men who are about 40 years and above and its diagnosis increases with age.
A 2012 study by the World Cancer Research Fund International had shown that more than 1.1 million cases of prostate cancer are recorded in a year, which reflects the prevalence of the disease.
But according to the study, men who have more sex and ejaculate more frequently lower their risk of the disease. In fact, the study pointed out that those who ejaculate 21 times in a month significantly cut their risk of prostate cancer by 22 per cent.
Prostate on its own is a small walnut-shaped gland that produces the seminal fluid that nourishes and transports sperm.
The researchers from Harvard Medical School in the United States explained that orgasm flushes out cancer-causing chemicals from the system, giving room for a replacement by new ones. Thus, the more the orgasm a man has the more his body would have been ridden of such chemicals.
In the study, the researchers followed about 32,000 healthy men aged between 40 and 49 for 18 years. They were asked to calculate their average monthly frequency of ejaculation during the period and the previous year when they were aged between 20 to 29, 40 to 49 and in the year 1991.
The researchers also took into account factors such as diet, lifestyle and whether the participants have a history of the cancer.
The study found that when compared to those who had orgasm for four to seven times, out of whom 3,839 of the participants were diagnosed with prostate cancer, participants who had orgasms for about 21 times a month reduced their risk of having the cancer.
The researchers added that orgasm, apart from flushing out old cells, also stops the build-up of old cells that may turn cancerous.
“Another theory is that if sperm is regularly cleaned out to allow new cells to develop, it helps to flush out old cells and stop the build-up of old ones that could turn cancerous,” the researchers told Mail Online.
One of the participants, Dr. Jennifer Rider, said the results were particularly encouraging but should be interpreted with caution.
Rider said, “While these data are the most compelling to date on the potential benefit of ejaculation on prostate cancer development, they are observational data and should be interpreted somewhat cautiously.
“At the same time, given the lack of modifiable risk factors for prostate cancer, the results of this study are particularly encouraging.”
He noted further that orgasm itself has protective benefits as the hormones oxytocin and dehydroepiandrosterone are released during orgasm, adding that oxytocin has the power to lower blood pressure in women, reducing their risk for cardiovascular disease at the same time. It could also lower risk for breast and cervical cancer.
Some Greek researchers had also found that men who had fewer than six orgasms per month are more likely to develop breast cancer, and that the increased levels of DHEA could improve memory, boost brain function and lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.
This implies that orgasms has a lot of role to play in people’s overall health.
Meanwhile, a study by University of Montreal in Canada, found that men who have multiple sexual partners are less likely to develop the disease, even though some critics described the study as immoral, as they said it would encourage extra marital affairs.
The study had argued that men who have slept with more than 20 female partners in their lifetime were 28 per cent less likely to develop the disease, and 29 per cent less likely to develop an aggressive type of cancer compared to those who have only one female sexual partner.
Interestingly, the same study found that the benefit does not apply to men who are gay. In fact, it was found that gays who have more than 20 male partners double their risk of the cancer and five times more likely to have an aggressive cancer.
Lead researcher, Prof. Marie-Elise Parent, said the reason why men with male partners would not feel same way was that anal intercourse produces a physical trauma to the prostrate.
Lending a voice to the previous study, Parent noted that, “It is possible that having many female sexual partners results in a higher frequency of ejaculations, whose protective effect against prostate cancer has been previously observed in cohort studies.
“Large numbers of ejaculations may reduce the concentration of cancer-causing substances in prostatic fluid, a constituent of semen, and they may also lead to fewer crystal-like structures in the prostate that have been associated with prostate cancer.”
A medical expert, Dr. Rotimi Adesanya, said it is true that orgasm helps to rid the system of old cells that have the tendency of being cancerous, and that the more the orgasm the more the old cells and the fluid in the prostate gland are replaced, making it less likely for prostate cancer to happen.
He said, “When there is orgasm, the man will ejaculate, thereby releasing the sperm that is being stored, and the more the sperm is being stored, the more the possibility of it being cancerous. But when the person is not ejaculating, those fluid will remain there and it is a possibility for something like that to happen, because even the prostate gland will not be able to release its fluid.
“But if it’s being released periodically and being replaced by old cells and new fluids, it is less likely that prostate cancer will happen.”
He cautioned that men do not need to have multiple sex partners to ejaculate as much as they want, noting that the risks, including HIV, STIs and STDs outweigh any such benefit.
“The risk and disadvantages of having multiple sexual partners are more than the benefits. Not even condom can guarantee safety because it is not 100 per cent protective. We also have prostatis, which is the inflammation of the prostate gland and a man sleeping with about 20 women tend to have some guilt feeling.
“In addition, when people have sex, it is not only the genitals that are involved, people kiss and do other things, which could be a source for other risks. So, there is no need to have extramarital affairs because of that. Frequent ejaculation between partners is good enough,” he added.
UK Daily & PUNCH
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