Ball Games

LAST THURSDAY WE learned that sucking dick might protect you AIDS, but also, sadly, that having more than five oral sex partners in one's lifetime means you're more likely to get throat cancer.

Where, I hear you cry, are our balls in all this? Well kids, they don't get off Scot free either. Boffins say that smoking weed doubles the risk of testicular cancer, which I'd wager is bad news for lots of you naughty boys.

It would appear that the rate of testicular cancer in Western cultures (thank God for that, I've always considered myself a Northern lad) has soared in the last 30 years, in tandem with the abuse of cannabis (the plant, not the rapper). Here are some factoids for your hungry minds. Pay attention:

-In 2005, 2,109 cases of testicular cancer were reported in Britain, and 78 deaths. -In 1975, 850 cases were reported. -It's found mostly in young men between the ages of 20 and 40. -In Britain, the US and other developed countries, the rate has been growing by 3 - 6% since the 1950s.

I wonder how much of that is due to men being less reluctant to have their nuts handled by a stranger than they were in the olden days?

Elsewhere: Signs of Testicular Cancer

Elsewhere: The Testicular Cancer Resource Center