Semen-conservation doctrine from ancient Ayurvedic to modern sexological theory.
The ancient doctrine of semen conservation has a long philosophical history in Europe and Asia. In Sanskrit, semen is equated with sukra, the life force. As early as 600 B.C., the Caraka Samhita taught the importance of sukra, and gave prescriptions to augment it. In the 18th century, semen conservation theory reentered Western medicine through Tissot's Treatise on the Diseases Produced by Onanism. It became the basis of the degeneracy theory of all disease, and of the masturbation hysteria of the 19th and 20th centuries.
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Psychohormonal Research Unit, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21202.
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D005060:Europe; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D008418:Masturbation / Q000266:history*; D008515:Medicine, Ayurvedic / Q000266:history*; D012661:Semen; D012723:Sex