Sleeping with numerous women 'may protect against prostate cancer'

  • Health
Men who had slept with more than 20 women apparently have a lower risk of prostate cancer. Credit: PA Images

Sleeping with numerous women reduces the risk of developing prostate cancer, according to new research.

Canadian researchers found men who had had 20 or more sexual partners had a 28% lower risk of being diagnosed.

However this was not the case for gay men, whom the scientists said had a higher risk of prostate cancer the more partners they had.

The findings are from the Prostate Cancer & Environment Study in which 3,208 men answered questions about their lifestyle and sex lives.

Lead researcher Professor Marie-Elise Parent, from the University of Montreal, said: "It is possible that having many female sexual partners results in a higher frequency of ejaculations, whose protective effect against prostate cancer has been previously observed in cohort studies."

However, Professor Parent admitted that at this stage any theories on causation are "highly speculative".

On the question of whether promiscuity might now be recommended in health advice to men, she said: "We're not there yet."