A study done in Australia suggests that frequent masturbation by men, especially in their 20s, provides protection against prostate cancer later in life.
The scientists in Australia found that men in their 20s who ejaculated more than five times a week were a third less likely to develop aggressive prostate cancer later in life.
The reason the study suggests focuses on masturbation over sex is said to be because men can pick up infections from intercourse that actually increase the risk of getting prostate cancer.
The team asked 1,079 men with prostate cancer to log their sexual habits, which were then compared with those of 1,259 healthy men.
"The more you flush the ducts out, the less there is to hang around and damage the cells that line them", Graham Giles of The Cancer Council of Victoria in Melbourne said.
"Masturbation is part of people's sexual repertoire", said Anthony Smith, a director of the Australian Research Centre. "If these findings hold up, then it's perfectly reasonable that men should be encouraged to masturbate".
