Health

Exercising and Male Sexual Health

Sports decrease risks of prostate cancer and impotence

By Stefan Anitei, Science Editor

4th of May 2007, 07:48 GMT

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Fighting against heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, memory loss, colon cancer, fractures and depression are weak

motivations to send most men to the gym. But when it's about sex benefits, this could change the odds.

Prostate cancer is the second cancer type responsible for death in men, after the lung cancer. But the most worrying thing about this type of cancer is that surgery presupposes a great risk for erectile dysfunction (impotence), not to mention that anyway, sex life is compromised by this condition.

Recent researches point out that regular exercise, a healthy diet and low stress levels can stop the development of early prostate cancer.
A 2006 Swedish research found the regular exercise to be linked with a low risk of moderate and severe symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The most athletic men were 28% less likely to display severe lower urinary tract symptoms than the sedentary men.

Other researches have revealed that men, over 65, who practice, for at least three hours, sports like running, cycling or swimming, three times weekly, presented an about 70 % decreased risk of being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer (with increased risk of death).

The prostate gland's development and growth is dependent on testosterone, both in the case of normal and cancerous cells. Regular exercise is supposed to be protective by decreasing testosterone levels and boosting the immune system. The enhanced action on the immune system is showed by the increased number and activity of killer cells, implied in destroying cancer cells.

Harvard researches found that men exercising on a regular basis were 41% less likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction: it took just about 30 minutes of walking daily.

A 2004 randomized clinical trial revealed that moderate exercise (on average less than 28 minutes daily) improves sexual performance in obese and middle-aged men with erectile dysfunction. One survey monitored men diagnosed with early prostate cancer who decided not to seek treatment immediately but to closely monitor the progression of their tumors.

Those who took up dieting and moderate aerobic exercises, like 30 minutes of walking daily, six days a week and adopted stress management techniques were found a year later with an average of 4 % decrease of their tumors while the others who did not presented an average 6 % increase of the prostate cancer tumors.

TAGS:

cancer | prostate | impotence

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