As many as 100 Germans a year are killed while masturbating, a new study has shown.
Research published by Brandenburg physician Harold Voß found between one and two people per million inhabitants die while pleasuring themselves.
Auto-erotic asphyxiation was cited as the most common form of death during masturbation, followed by electric shock.
Dr Voß claims the number of masturbation-related deaths is underreported because, in some cases, family members of the deceased will remove evidence in order to avoid embarrassment.
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He told German publication Bild: "The number of unreported cases is unusually high.
"Being unconscious is faster than people think...If, for example, both carotid arteries are squeezed, it takes a maximum of 30 seconds."
He said most of the victims are usually men because women were "more cautious and don't incorporate so many intricacies".
German authorities recorded 40 accidental autoerotic deaths between 1983 and 2003 in Hamburg alone.