Blowjobs, boobs and prostate cancer – how’s that for some strange keywords and search terms? I believe I may be  starting to miss having a sex life…

This is a bit of old research, but of course it comes up (haha) often and makes the rounds of the social networks in reposts, like it did last night on Facebook. The first study posited that fellatio may significantly decrease the chance of breast cancer in women, and a friend followed up and sent me Judy Skatssoon’s piece.

I can’t seem to find the original article on News.com.au, so I’m reposting here with a link to the Judy’s Twitter.

Fellatio ‘may prevent cancer’ – benefits for both partners
By Judy Skatssoon
July 16, 2003

An Australian study has found that receiving oral sex can protect men against prostate cancer in later life.

A team led by Professor Graham Giles, head of cancer epidemiology at the Cancer Council Victoria, questioned more than 2000 men about their past sexual habits as part of a wider prostate cancer study.

The men, half of whom had prostate cancer, were aged between 30 and 69 and recruited from Sydney, Melbourne and Perth between 1994-98.

The study indicated that men who received oral sex more than five times a week were a third less likely to develop prostate cancer.

The study further indicated that the women who consumed the ejaculate were 10 times less likely to develop cancers of the gums, tongue, esophagus, stomach and intestines. It also noted that the ejaculate improved complexion and increased the female consumers metabolism.

“What we found was men who recieved oral sex most in their twenties, thirties and forties had about a third less prostate cancer risk than men in the lowest category of ejaculation,” Professor Giles told AAP.

“The men who were the high performers in terms of receiving oral sex had a third less prostate cancer risk than men who were in the lowest category of receivers.”

He said one explanation for the apparent beneficial effects of being pleasured was that frequent ejaculation prevented semen from building up in the ducts, where it could potentially become carcinogenic.

“For seminal fluid to be made it has to be concentrated about 600 times,” Prof Giles said.

“So semen is a very potent and strong brew of lots of chemicals which, because of their biological reactivity, could be carcinogenic if left to lie around. However, when semen is digested it has chemicals which stimulate hormones in the female body causing tightening of the skin, enlarging of the breasts and some tri-collagen di-glycerides that stimulate the metabolism”

The research is set to appear in the British Journal of Urology this weekend.

Prof Giles said the prostate may have more similarities with the breast than previously thought – particularly in relation to the development of cancer.

He said the prostate was a secretory organ like the breast, which produced milk, only it produced semen.

The researchers reasoned that just as breast feeding lowered a woman’s risk of breast cancer, maybe liberal ejaculation could have the same beneficial effects for men.

Receiving oral sex daily could also have the same positive effect on a young prostate gland as pregnancy had on breasts, Prof Giles said.

“It might be rather like a first full-term pregnancy forces the breast tissue to fully differentiate and become grown up cells,” he said.

“Maybe intense sexual ejaculation (that found when receiving oral stimulation) at the time when the prostate has finished growing to maturity might actually help it bed down and become a fully developed gland, rather than having too many cells lying around in it.”

Prof Giles said previous reports had found an increased risk of prostate cancer among prisoners and Roman Catholic priests, while other studies suggested that having large numbers of female partners may be a factor.

However, while the Cancer Council study found benefits from receiving oral sex, it was unable to replicate the evidence about lots of sex with lots of women.

“In our study we found an effect for receiving oral sex and we did find an effect for the number of female partners,” he said.

Prof Giles said the study may have implications for prostate cancer patients who grew up at a time when the practice was frowned upon.

He said the findings of the study needed to be repeated by other researchers before they could be confidently claimed to be true. But noted that with 2000 test studies and years of data collection increased the likelyhood that the New England Journal of Medicine would publish an official study with the benefits of females giving oral sex to their male partners.

Now that’s all very interesting (and makes a lot of sense to anyone who’s taken the time to learn about human biological processes), and anything that decreases the risk of cancer should be enthusiastically embraced. However, with only anecdotal evidence obtained over the past 30-something years of my own observations and research, I’ll still say (with some authority) that there are positive physical and psychological benefits to both the giver and receiver of fellatio that have absolutely nothing to do with cancer… and hell of a lot to do with pair-bonding.

Oh, and gentlemen: It should be noted that some of you are more talented than others at being on the receiving end of those “blessings” too. You’d be surprised how much better it is for the giver when you’re fully engaged, and good at gettin’ it!

At this very moment my boss is at a conference discussing funding for innovative health care. One stumbling block to medical research is faith-based interference with stem cell research. Sick people shouldn’t be denied treatment because some people are afraid of supernatural consequences, and find ever more creative ways to convince ignorant but well-meaning people that magic belongs on equal footing with science.

Al Stefanelli writes about the  not-so-subtle changes in the Intelligent Design website in “You Can’t Polish a Turd”.

IBD: Icky Bowel Diagram

While having a painful attack due to simple friggin’ digestion, I posted a status update & comments on Facebook… because distractions help sometimes. A few friends expressed concern, because “sweating, fetal and nearly puking from the pain” is usually something to worry about. Eh, not so much when you’re living with Crohn’s Disease. This is my response, with a bit of linkage added.

Thanks, all! Support http://ccfa.org – life sucks with a bad gut!

Not to worry, though. Thankfully, I’ve been in remission for 11 years now, so I manage Crohn’s, as opposed to having to treat it. Hence the list of “gut-killers” on which Zankou chicken has now been placed, hah. There’s another list: “Worth suffering for.” Good clam chowder is on that list!

One friend commented, “Go to the doctor!”

Well, It’s Catt’s turn this year to get health care. Once she’s set up, I’ll get my own ass in there. I’m actually pretty good at knowing what needs attending to and what’s just one of those “I ate something I shouldn’t have, it’ll pass” type things. I can grit my teeth through a lot of pain. I will win!

Another friend asked what I’d eaten.

All I ate was a chicken leg & thigh, hummus & a few pieces of chopped tomato on pita. Zankou uses a lot of garlic in their cooking already, and I made the mistake of adding their delicious garlic spread, too. I think THAT was the clincher.

Waaaah! I’m Sicilian and garlic makes my guts go gak – UNFAIR! Ah well, at least spicy stuff doesn’t seem to bother me. I can still have my favorite cure-all: Pho!

Weird & disturbing: Ever since I had my first surgery, I can literally feel the workings & goings-on of most of my intestines. It nearly drove me out of my mind at first. It’s creepy to be so aware of digestive processes! The sensation depends on the day, and can be anything from mildly annoying to something worth taking a painkiller for (btw, that’s enough to make me at least CALL a doc, if it’s still up there in 8-9 range after a day or so of being “good” so I don’t make it worse). I can go days on clear liquids if I really have to, or I’ll eat rice & coconut milk.

Really, though, I’m very fortunate that mine is as manageable as it is. My heart bleeds for some of the people I know from the IBD groups, especially kids, who have it so much worse than I do already. On the bright side, there’s been success with stem cell therapy in Crohn’s… may Science win the day!!!