In 2012, Viggo Hansen, a substitute member of the Sörmland County Council in central Sweden,made global headlines when he proposed a motion requiring men on the council to sit while urinating when using the office restrooms. Hansen argued that sitting would leave the toilets much cleaner, and also claimed that sitting reduces the risk of prostate cancer and endows men with a more robust sex life.
Researchers in the Department of Urology at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands pooled and analyzed eleven studies comparing the effects of sitting versus standing on three key “urodynamic parameters“: maximum flow rate, voiding time (the time that it takes to pee), and post-void residual volume (the amount of urine remaining in the bladder).
From their point of view, sitting is better than standing for urinary health. Reason being that meta-analysis showed that men were able to empty their bladders more completely while seated, leaving 25 fewer milliliters of urine in their bladders. Men also have a stronger flow and took 0.62 seconds shorter to urinate and had stronger and more frequent erections and more reduces the risk of prostate cancer by 27%.
