Oral sex increases the risk of cancer in men because of human papillomavirus infections.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Researchers discovered that oral sex increases the risk of cancer in men. It seems that the males are more prone to the development of neck and head cancer if they engage in oral sex with multiple partners.
HPV or the human papillomavirus linked cancers occur twice as often in men than in women. The HPV is among the most common infections that are sexually transmitted.
The Advancement of Science American Association published a study this Friday in which they conclude that oral sex increases the risk of cancer in men. The risks increase proportionally with the number of sexual partners.
Gypsyamber D’Souza, an epidemiology professor at the University of John Hopkins declared that approximately 2 out of 3 oral cancers that occur in the United States are caused by the HPV 16 strain of the human papillomavirus. And the incidence of these conditions is growing.
And it seems that the risk of developing throat and head cancer is significantly higher in white middle-aged men.
Dr. D’Souza explains that the risks are getting higher because teenagers are beginning to engage in oral sex at a much younger age. This leads to an increase of HPV infections because there are no means of protection when it comes to oral sex performed by men.
When it comes to women, it seems that somehow they manage to remain protected from HPV infections. The number of women that are infected with the virus is drastically lower than that of men. And the number of sexual partners is the same as in the case of the males.
Dr. D’Souza compared both men and women for her study and she concluded that, even if they both have the same number of sexual partners and perform both oral and normal sex, oral sex increased the risk of cancer in men only.
A plausible explanation for this strange phenomenon might be the fact that women are first exposed to the HPV infection at the vaginal level. This allows them to build an immune response and they do not become infected with the virus orally.
Men, on the other hand first come in contact with the HPV virus at an oral level. Adding the fact that men seem to be less able to clear themselves of the infection we understand why oral sex increases the risk of cancer in men, and not both men and women.
The risk of developing cancer after performing oral sex is of 22 percent. In the last 50 years, or so, the incidence of cancer linked to the HPV virus increased with 225 percent.
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