MellowViper wrote:http://www.webmd.com/prostate-cancer/ne ... ancer-risk
The statistics aren't bunk. The study was conducted by PHD holding medical researchers at the University of Nottingham, and it was published in the BJU (British Journal of Urology), not by Fox News, not by Bob Jones University, but a reputable, scientific publication.
"For men in their 20s, "frequent masturbation" was two to seven times per week. Compared to same-age men who reported masturbating less than once per month, 20-something frequent masturbators had a 79% higher risk of prostate cancer by age 60."
"For men in their 50s, "frequent masturbation" was one or more times per week. Compared to same-age men who reported never masturbating, 50-something frequent masturbators had a 70% lower risk of prostate cancer."
"So it's not masturbation itself that's increasing prostate cancer risk in young men. More masturbation may just mean more sex drive -- and more androgens bathing prostate tissues"
"These are just theories, Dimitropoulou warns. More research is needed to determine the exact role of sex hormones and sexual activity in prostate-cancer risk at different stages of life."
Anyway, that's why I was saying they could find out, once and for all, if abstaining from masturbation plays any role in decreased cancer risk by studying the rate of prostate cancer in vedic monks and practitioners, who view abstinence from it as an act of penance.
"The findings were surprising. Sexual intercourse did not affect prostate cancer risk. But frequent masturbation did -- in different ways, at different times of life."
This is because sexual intercourse is normally done a lot less frequently. You don't have a partner willing to go at it with you all the time, but you do have a hand. I wanna be clear that I don't intend on abstaining altogether. I'm just thinking of keeping it to once or twice or three times a month, to the rates that the not at risk group were maturbating. If I did manage to stop completely, which I think may be impossible for a male in their 20's to do, it might raise my risk, because the men in there 50's who don't masturbate at all are at a higher risk. The researcher says that prostate cancer might not be preventable because of an inescapable sex drive dictated by genetics and a naturally higher level of hormones in the body. This is probably partially true, but I kind of think that forcing your body to replenish semen constantly might elevate certain hormone levels that might not be there otherwise, and this might have an affect on turning certain oncogenes on and off in the prostates tissue or something. I don't know. I'm no scientist. The frequency of masturbation may just be indicators of risk and not a causal factor at all though. I'm anxious to see a more conclusive study.
"It is kind of logical that a moderate level of masturbatory activity has to be maintained," she says. "Not too much, and not none at all."
I have a feeling, though, that science will find out, yet again, that the fundamentalists aren't 100% right, and the hedonists aren't 100% right. Its probably something in-between. It won't make you go blind, but there's probably a downside to overindulgence. For example, eating, like sex, is natural, but if you eat too much, you grow obese, become diabetic, and you die prematurely or have to live with a lower quality of life. That's the general rule of thumb I'm going off of in my decisiveness to abstain. The full implications and context of the study aren't understood yet, so I don't wanna get too preachy. Its just a personal choice for me, and I think its well reasoned enough.
