Comments

None of the major Pediatrics groups in the world recommend circumcision. Aside from the AAP, the rest of them explicitedly say not to do it. The AAP, in a strange twist for a medical group advises one to consider culture and religion when making a surgical decision. http://www.cirp.org/library/statements/ But you don't have to believe them. I don't do appeals to authority that well either. Read about UTIs. Girls get far more UTIs then boys, but they're not surgically altered. They get rounds of antibiotics. Why doesn't that work for boys? http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/utichildren/ Its also common knowledge that breastfeeding makes for healthier babies, including a lower risk of UTIs. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1731031 Read about penile cancer. In first world countries, its more rare and far less deadly than male breast cancer. How often to you hear about male breast cancer cases? You don't. Do we propose surgery to protect males against breast cancer? With the female breast cancer rate at a staggering 1 in 8, do we preemptively amputate female breast buds to protect them? Of course not. Furthermore, Denmark, which doesn't circumcise, has similar rates of penile cancer to the United States. Breast cancer rates in males: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_1X_What_are_the_key_statistics_for_male_breast_cancer_28.asp?sitearea= Penile cancer rates in males: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_1X_What_are_the_key_statistics_for_penile_cancer_35.asp?rnav=cri Denmark study: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/311/7018/1471 Circumcised men still get penile cancer. Example: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16406995 And then there is the HPV vaccine, Gardasil. This vaccine or similar will be available for the prevention of penile and anal cancers in men and will put an end to HPV-related cancer. Read about HIV/STDs: In a first world country, if a man wants to be protected, he essentially has two choices if he wants full protection: a. Get circumised and wear a condom. b. Wear a condom. Why would any sane man in a first world country pick anything but b? Furthermore, the United States has one of the highest circumcision rates in the world and also the highest HIV rates in the first world. https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2155rank.html Take that how you will. Despite generations of male circumcisions, STDs and now HIV are rampant in this country. I don't see any risk reduction in the real world. http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/11/teen.std.ap/index.html Read about phimosis. Phimosis isn't the disaster that the article author makes it out to be. Its normal through puberty and is easily treatable using stretching methods and/or steroid cream. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/pdxmd/body/106159219-2/0?type=med&eid=9-u1.0-_1_101_6080335 http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/102/4/e43 Of course, if parents leave their son's penis alone and follow the AAP recomendation (don't retract), its doubtful their son will have problematic phimosis. If you want negatives, aside from the ethics of performing surgery on a newborn for the above flismy reasons, here are some. Read about meatal stenosis. It affects 10% of circumcisied boys and requires additional surgery to correct. Intact boys have no risk of meatal stenosis. More surgery = more risk of infection, including MRSA infection. http://www.emedicine.com/PED/topic2356.htm Read about MRSA. Its a bacterial infection that is very difficult to cure and very aggressive. Its highly communicable and prevalent in hospitals. Newly circumised boys are especially vulnerable due to their size and their fresh wound. See some pictures: http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/DOC/mrsa.html If you're considering circumcision because of UTI concerns, consider the potential alternative. Easily antibiotic treatable UTI vs. deadly MRSA. Read the Sorrells study. They tested points on the circumcised and intact male penis and reported the results. They didn't completely ignore the foreskin as in other studies. http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/pdf/sorrells_2007.pdf Amputation risk: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-18-2007/0004628064&EDATE= Often, no pain relief: http://www.webmd.com/content/article/95/103212.htm http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/101/6/e5 Death: http://healthblog.ctv.ca/blog/_archives/2007/5/22/2967860.html Read the links. There's a reason why circumcision has practically disappeared in most of the world. Aside from countries that do it for religious reasons (i.e. Israel, Saudi Arabia), circumcision is only done in the United States. Much of the problem is that doctors don't know or don't care to know the information I presented above. The media doesn't help either. Just about every article presented is a rehash of 1950s ideas about circumcision. Its sad, but it still hasn't stopped the U.S. circumcision rate from falling from 90% in the 1970s to about 57% now.