Does a varied love life increase prostate cancer risk?

Physicians are investigating the link between prostate cancer and sexual activity
If people have many different sexual partners, unprotected sexual intercourse can lead to some dangerous diseases. Researchers have now found that a high number of female partners in men increase the risk of prostate cancer. When men had more than seven partners in their lifetime, they had a doubled chance of developing prostate cancer compared to men with only three partners.

The researchers from the Cancer Council of New South Wales, Australia, found in their study that the number of sexual partners in men influences their risk for prostate cancer. The experts published the results of their study in the medical journal "International Journal of Cancer".
If men have many sexual partners throughout life, it increases their prostate cancer risk. (Image: olly / fotolia.com)

More than seven partners increase the risk massively
For their study, the scientists analyzed the data of 10,000 men. The physicians were particularly looking for a link between prostate cancer and sexual activity. They found that more than seven sexual partners in men double the risk of prostate cancer compared to subjects with fewer than three partners.

Newly identified risk factors for prostate cancer
If men are sexually active in the past, it may also be a risk factor for prostate cancer. "The more women they had, the younger they were the first time they had them, and the more orgasms they had, the higher their risk for prostate cancer," says author Visalini Nair-Shalliker of Cancer Council New South Wales.

The cause of the risk could be hormonal changes
As the increased risk involved is linked to sexual activity, it seems to be due to a hormonal change, the medical profession speculates. Sexual activity and metabolism were associated with antigens. And the male sex hormone is also strongly associated with the initiation of prostate cancer, the researchers explain.

Cancers in the family history must be respected urgently
Other risk factors include a father with prostate cancer, an earlier diagnosis of prostatitis (prostatitis) or benign prostatic hyperplasia (benign enlargement of the prostate gland). In addition, the experts found that overweight and obesity are also associated with a slightly increased risk.

Men at risk should seek medical attention
There was no association between prostate cancer risk and circumcision, vasectomy or erectile function, the researchers report. It is important to accurately identify the risk factors of prostate cancer. This is the only way men can be given reliable advice, the researchers emphasize. Especially men over the age of fifty, who fall into an elevated risk category, should urgently seek a conversation with their doctor. This advice is particularly important when the men already have some cases of prostate cancer in their family history, says Nair-Shalliker.

Further research is needed
However, at the moment we can not make any really reliable recommendations about sexual activity because the problem is very complex, the researchers restrict. We do not say that you should increase or decrease your sexual activity, as more research is needed to gather more accurate facts and evidence, the physicians add. (As)