| |
|
Health Benefits of Masturbation
1) Having at least two orgasms a week can increase your life span. Every time you reach orgasm, the hormone DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone) increases in response to sexual excitement and ejaculation. DHEA can boost your immune system, repair tissue, improve cognition, keep skin healthy, and even work as an anti-depressant.
2) Orgasms boost infection-fighting cells up by 20% according to gynecologist Dr. Dudley Chapman. Orgasm boosts levels of T3 and T4 lymphocyte cells - a type of white blood cell which produces antibodies. Psychologists at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania found that students who had regular sexual activity had a third higher levels of IgA (immunoglobulin A - an antibody which boosts the immune system and keeps you healthy).
3) The hormone oxytocin secretes within your body whenever you engage in sexual activity. Because of this secretion, endorphins (hormone-like chemicals that bear a close functional resemblance to morphine) are released. Studies have shown that a rise in oxytocin levels can relieve pain; everything from headaches, cramps and overall body aches.
4) Both testosterone and estrogen levels experience a boost through regular sexual activity. Testosterone does more than just boost your sex drive, it can help fortify bones and muscles, and keep your heart in good working condition as well. In women, sexual activity increases estrogen levels, which protects them against heart disease.
5) For men, masturbation or regular sex is good for the prostate and can prevent painful prostate blockage. Storing seminal fluids for long periods can also cause prostate congestion, which in turn can lead to urinary and ejaculatory pain. Regular ejaculations can help ward off this condition, also called nonspecific prostatitis and, for obvious reasons, "sailor's disease" and "priest's disease."
"It is understood that most people begin masturbating when reaching adolescence. Many scholarly and clinical studies have been done on the matter, and many informal surveys have asked the question. A 2004 survey by Toronto magazine NOW was answered by an unspecified number of thousands. [1] The results show that an overwhelming majority of the males – 81% – began masturbating between the ages of 10 and 15. Among females, the same figure was a more modest majority of 55%. It is not uncommon however to begin much earlier, and this is more frequent among females: 18% had begun by the time they turned 10, and 6% already by the time they turned 6. Being the main outlet of child sexuality, masturbation has been observed in very young children. In the book Human Sexuality: Diversity in Contemporary America, by Strong, Devault and Sayad, the authors point out, "A baby boy may laugh in his crib while playing with his erect penis (although he does not ejaculate). Baby girls sometimes move their bodies rhythmically, almost violently, appearing to experience orgasm."
According to the Canadian survey of Now magazine readers cited above, the frequency of masturbation declines after the age of 17. This decline is more drastic among females, and more gradual among males. While females aged 13-17 masturbated almost once a day on average (and almost as often as their male peers), adult women only masturbated 8-9 times a month, compared to the 18-22 among men. It is also apparent that the ability to masturbate declines with age. Adolescent youths report being able to masturbate to ejaculation six or more times per day, while men in middle age report being hard pressed to ejaculate even once per day, on a daily basis. The survey does not give a full demographic breakdown of respondents, however, and the sexual history of respondents to this poll, who are readers of an urban Toronto lifestyle magazine, may not extend to the general population.
In part this is due to the fact that females are less likely to masturbate while in a sexual relationship than men. Both sexes occasionally engage in this activity, however, even when in sexually active relationships (or happily married). In general, individuals of either sex who are not in sexually active relationships tend to masturbate more frequently than those who are."
"It is being increasingly recognised in mental health circles that masturbation can relieve depression and lead to a higher sense of self worth. Masturbation can also be particularly useful in relationships where one partner wants more sex than the other—in which case masturbation provides a balancing effect and thus a more harmonious relationship.
Both from the standpoint of avoiding unwanted pregnancy and that of avoiding sexually transmitted diseases, masturbation is the safest of sexual practices. There is no credible scientific or medical evidence that manual masturbation is damaging to either one's mental or physical health.
Men whose penis has suffered "an invasive procedure, blunt trauma or injury during intercourse"[2] may suffer later in life from Peyronie's disease. Phimosis is "a contracted foreskin (that) may cause trouble by hurting when an attempt is made to pull the foreskin back"[3]. In either of these cases, any overly aggressive manipulation of the penis can be problematic.
Contrary to popular myth, masturbation does not cause blindness. There is some basis, however, to the myth: zinc is required both to transport vitamin A from the liver to the retina and is excreted in relatively high amount in semen. Thus, it is not inconceivable that in zinc-deficient or vitamin A-deficient environments excessive masturbation could have caused night blindness.
The only side-effects recorded are that repeated masturbation may result in tiredness or soreness, which tend to make repeated masturbation self-limiting in any case, and that the volume of ejaculate is temporarily reduced in men after multiple ejaculations until normal seminal volume is regained in a day or so. Nevertheless, people from a socially conservative or religious background and other sensitive persons may experience feelings of guilt during or after masturbation.
Solitary masturbation carries no risk of pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases. Masturbation with a man and a woman can result in pregnancy only if semen contacts the vulva. Any masturbation with a partner can theoretically result in transmission of sexually transmitted disease by contact with bodily fluids, and such contact should be avoided with any partner whose disease status is uncertain. Objects inserted into the vagina or anus should be clean and of a kind that will not scratch or break. Care should be taken not to fully insert anything into the anus—any object used should have a flared or flanged base; otherwise retrieval can require a visit to the emergency room. Most modern dildos and anal plugs are designed with this feature.
In 1994, when the first woman appointed US Surgeon General, Dr. Joycelyn Elders, mentioned as an aside that perhaps it ought to be mentioned in school curricula that masturbation was safe and healthy, she was forced to resign, with opponents asserting that she was promoting the teaching of how to masturbate. Many believe this was the result of her long history of promoting controversial viewpoints and not due solely to her public mention of masturbation.
On July 16, 2003, an Australian research team led by Graham Giles of The Cancer Council published a medical study [4] which concluded that frequent masturbation by males may help prevent the development of prostate cancer. The study also indicated that this would be more helpful than ejaculation through sexual intercourse because intercourse can transmit diseases that may increase the risk of cancer instead. Another study came to similar conclusions in April 2004"-wikipedia.org
Drawn from a google search on the medical benefits of masterbation. |
|
|
