Is it true ejaculating 21 times a month will drastically lower my husband’s risk of getting prostate cancer?
DR Jeff Foster is The Sun on Sunday’s resident doctor and is here to help YOU.
Dr Jeff, 43, splits his time between working as a GP in Leamington Spa, Warks, and running his clinic, H3 Health, which is the first of its kind in the UK to look at hormonal issues for both men and women.
See h3health.co.uk and email at drjeff@the-sun.co.uk.
Q) I SAW a video online of a female doctor saying that if a man ejaculates 21 times per month they drastically lower their chances of developing prostate cancer.
If this is true I’ll be encouraging my husband to do this.
Dawn Moore, Ashford, Kent
A) The message from the video you viewed is not entirely wrong.
A study published in the Journal of European Urology in 2016 looked at 31,925 men, how often they ejaculated and the incidence of prostate cancer.
The results showed that men who were more sexually active were found to have a significant decrease in prostate cancer rates.
It compared those who ejaculated less than 21 times per month with those of four to seven ejaculations per month and it seemed to show a much reduced cancer rate in those with more than 21.
The prostate is a highly active organ, and just like anything else in the body, if you don’t use it, there is a greater chance it could go wrong.
It is worth noting we don’t know that those people who were sexually active were healthier anyway, maybe they didn’t smoke, were less overweight, and drank less, so were at less risk of cancer anyway.
Therefore, overall we cannot say for certain that greater sexual activity reduces cancer risk, but it probably does.
So it’s definitely worth trying.
Q) I’M a 39-year-old man and have been getting really dry, flaky skin around my eyes and in my ears.
I found a good cream that cleared it up.
I then got stressed with a work matter and it was back the next day and now I can’t shift it.
Alex Jones, Burnley
A) Flaky and dry skin, whether it’s contact dermatitis, eczema, or psoriasis can be really distressing for patients.
We massively underestimate how this can affect confidence and feelings of self image.
I would split this up into two areas: what you can do yourself, and what you need a doctor for.
You should keep your skin moisturised, which is a really simple but often under-utilised tool to improve skin quality.
Buy an unscented, non-perfumed moisturiser (worth asking a pharmacist), and put it on your skin twice a day.
Then look for any face washes, or shampoos you have that could be irritating your skin.
Sometimes the common anti-dandruff shampoos worsen dryness and irritation.
If none of this works, see your doctor.
You may need a steroid cream to improve your skin, but you would need to be really careful around your eyes, and advice from a professional would be essential for this.
All of it is treatable, so I would not worry.
What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?
Symptoms of prostate cancer can include:
- Needing to pee more frequently, often during the night
- Needing to rush to the toilet
- Difficulty in starting to pee (hesitancy)
- Straining or taking a long time while peeing
- Weak flow
- Feeling that your bladder has not emptied fully
- Blood in urine or blood in semen
Source: NHS