Master Debater
The Science…
Danish scientists have produced new research that childless men are less likely to develop prostate cancer than men who are fathers – however, they’ve also found that the more children a father has the less likely he is to develop prostate cancer too – full story here: Fatherhood/prostate link.
An interesting question is how does this tie in with earlier research by Australian and American scientists around masturbation and frequency of ejaculation affecting the risk of prostate cancer? (BBC News – masturbation cuts cancer risk , New Scientist – masturbating may protect against prostate cancer and New Scientist – frequent ejaculation may protect against cancer ). These studies suggested that the more frequently a man masturbates/ejaculates the less likely his risk of developing prostate cancer – the ejaculate apparently clearing the prostate gland of carcinogens or material that provides a substrate for the formation of carcinogens. However the Australian study found that frequent sexual intercourse did not confer the same benefits due to increased risk of STI transmission.
There are so many variables tied in with prostate cancer risk – not the least being a familial one, race being another (men of African origin have a higher risk of prostate cancer although a recent study refutes this – see link Prostate cancer no more aggressive in black men than white men ); however the sexual health link is interesting. Can we conjecture that sexual activity has an affect on prostate cancer risk? Commenting on the earlier research on masturbation, a representative from the UK Prostate Cancer Charity stated that “in the same way the human papilloma virus has been linked to cervical cancer, there is a suggestion that bits of prostate cancer may be related to a sexually transmitted infection earlier in life.” Indeed, there is research linking STIs to increased risk of prostate cancer (see History of STD linked to prostate cancer risk and STD linked to higher prostate cancer risk ). A 2006 study found that gonorrhoea infection may be implicated in the disease process; it also found that men who have a higher number of sexual partners – 25 or more, had a three times greater risk than men who had five or fewer partners, which suggested “a role for sexually transmitted factors”.
The Research…
There is research – and then there is research to refute research. Given all of the above we could conjecture that childless men (and possibly by implication younger men?) masturbate more than men who are fathers – or that men who have more children have a more active sex life, and if they are in a committed monogamous relationship they are less likely to be exposed to the risk of STIs – and hence prostate cancer. Etc, etc. Is there a link in here somewhere? Conjecture? One can only hope that the boffins who conduct the research have read each other’s papers and link some of this stuff together – and let the rest of us know. Research and gathering statistics – yes – but research also needs practical and beneficial application.
This is the type of ‘health science’ that needs to be tied in with current sociologically based sexual health education; we need a socio-biological, social marketing approach to sexual health work, a multifaceted approach making use of all the research and methodology available to us. How can we achieve this? A ‘Ministry of Linking Up the Bleedin’ Obvious’ might go a long way – that and getting rid of a health target obsessed political culture and long term concentration on issues instead – real health promotion/improvement work that links in with communities, cultures, and populations; or to quote Derek Wanless in his report on UK health (The Wanless Report – Securing Good Health for the Whole Population ) in the UK government’s Choosing Health “too often in the past we have devoted too much time and energy to analysing the problems and not enough to developing and delivering practical solutions that connect with real lives”. Well said – so let’s see some action (but we doubt it).
The Application…
In the meantime, from the viewpoint of educating boys and young men, what is useful is the research around masturbation. Most of the current guidance states that we need to let young men know that masturbation is part of a normal sex life – yes we do, or at least those of us who engage in practical sexual health sessions in schools or voluntary youth work environments do – but then again there are other adults who deliver this material who are uncomfortable with the subject. We should also be encouraging young men to masturbate as part of a healthy lifestyle –granted most young men won’t need much encouragement, however the link to possible prevention of prostate cancer by regular masturbation is one that young men need to hear – after all whilst we hope that nobody is practising Victorian punishments for masturbation there are unfortunately still a few myths out there about overdoing it. And if you’re delivering a session to fathers and sons it helps to make the link that sexual health is not something you only need to consider as a young man – that what you do now can affect your health in later life.
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