Just in case anyone tries to use these arguments in a circ debate or discussion, here are some research points proving each statement less than accurate:
Circumcision lowers your son’s chances of getting a urinary tract infection (UTI) in the first year of life.
· Not one confirmed UTI case in a normal male infant. All cases in infants with clear urinary birth defects. (Altschul, M. Cultural Bias and the UTI Circumcision Controversy. Truth Seeker, July 1989;1:43-45)
· Antimicrobial management of UTI in infants is routine and outcome generally good. It is inappropriate at this time to recommend circumcision as a routine medically indicated procedure. (McCracken, G. Options in Antimicrobial Mgmt. of UTI in Infants-Children. Ped Infect Dis J, Aug 1989;8:552-555)
· Reported benefits in preventing cancer and infant UTIs are insignificant compared to surgical risks. (Lawler, F. Circumcision: Decision Analysis of its Medical Value. Family Medicine, 1991;23:587- 593)
· 295 circumcisions would be needed to prevent one hospital admission for UTI in the first year of life. (T, Agha M, Dick PT, Feldman W. Cohort study on circumcision of newborn boys and subsequent risk of urinary-tract infection. Lancet 1998;352(9143):1813-16.)
Although a rare condition, cancer of the penis is essentially eliminated in circumcised males.
· The American Cancer Society issued a five part advisory statement on penile cancer in June 1999. Circumcision is not considered to be beneficial in preventing or reducing the risk of penile cancer. The ACS identifies HPV, smoking, and phimosis as risk factors. (New Engl J Med 2002;47(18):1448.)
· Penile cancer is rare (occurring in about 9 out of a million men). "There is no proven, documented medical reason that says circumcision is better, as long as you teach your child to pull back the foreskin and wash," says Dr. Karin Blakemore. (Director of the maternal-fetal medicine division at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine)
· The most significant argument that has been put forth for circumcision is that it prevents cancer of the penis. This may be true, but even proponents of circumcision admit that there have been occurrences of penile cancer in men circumcised as infants. Cancer of the penis occurs, on average, in men aged 55 years, and is one of the least common malignancies in men, representing ½ of 1% of all cancers in men and occurring at a rate of less than one case per 100,000 per year in the United States. This is the same incidence as in the countries of Northern Europe, where infant circumcision is almost unknown. (James L. Snyder, M.D. The Truth Seeker, pp 39-42, July/August 1989)
Research shows that males who are circumcised have a slightly lower risk of getting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
· Circumcision has no significant effect on the incidence of common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). (Donovan, B. Male Circumcision & Common STDs in Developed Nation Setting. Genitourin Med, 1994;70:317-320)
· We embrace recent research that reveals circumcision provides no discernible prophylactic benefit and may in fact increase the likelihood of STD contraction. Chlamydial infection correlates strongly with the circumcised condition. We assert that more reasonable and effective means of preventing STDs include abstinence, monogamy, sex and health education programs, condom use, and good personal hygiene behaviors. (Laumann, E. Circumcision in the United States. Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 277, no. 19, April 2, 1997:1052-1057)
Circumcision eliminates foreskin infection that occur at the peak ages of 3 to 5 years.
· About 16 deaths in children under 5 years occur each year from circumcision. In most of the fatalities which have come to my notice death has occurred for no apparent reason under anesthesia, but hemorrhage and infection have sometimes proved fatal. (Gairdner D. The fate of the foreskin: a study of circumcision. Br Med J 1949;2:1433-7)
· There's no medical reason to circumcise. In fact, there may be a good reason to leave well enough alone. Dr. Van Howe's study of 468 boys found that 54 percent of circumcised boys under age three had minor penile problems, such as swellings and skin adhesions. Only 5 percent of their uncut brethren had such irritation.
· But foreskin retraction should never be forced. Until separation occurs, do not try to pull the foreskin back — especially an infant's. Forcing the foreskin to retract before it is ready may severely harm the penis and cause pain, infection, bleeding and tears in the skin. (2000 American Academy of Pediatrics)
Circumcision prevents phimosis, a narrow opening that makes it impossible to retract the foreskin at a later age.
· Infant circumcision was virtually abandoned by Britain in 1949 with the institution of the National Health Service. The current infant circumcision rate is less than one half of 1%. About 7% of British boys are circumcised before reaching adulthood because of premature diagnosis of phimosis (non-retractable foreskin), a normal condition that may not resolve until late adolescence. (British Dept. of Health and Social Security, cited by Wallerstein in Circumcision: An American Health Fallacy)
· It appears that many boys are circumcised for development non-retractability of the prepuce rather than for true phimosis and that in consequence some two-thirds of the operations are unnecessary. (Rickwood AMK, Walker J. Is phimosis overdiagnosed in boys and are too many circumcisions performed in consequence? Ann R Coll Surg Engl 1989;71(5):275-7.)
· Almost fifty years ago, Gairdner (1949) presented that foreskin development is normal in 99% of boys by the age of fifteen, and how only 15% of boys have a retractable foreskin by six months. More recent British researchers discuss, how "Confusion over the term phimosis [i.e., the normal unretracted foreskin at birth versus the forcible retraction by a physician] continues, so that many children are thought to have a pathological condition when often there is none" (Williams, Chell, & Kapila, 1993, p. 29), and concludes with the point that physicians lack adequate understanding of this issue.
Genital hygiene, which is particularly important in unsanitary conditions, may be easier after circumcision.
· The natural penis requires no special care. A child's foreskin, like his eyelids, is self-cleansing. For the same reason it is inadvisable to lift the eyelids and wash the eyeballs, it is inadvisable to retract a child's foreskin and wash the glans. Immersion in plain water during the bath is all that is needed to keep the intact penis clean. (American Academy of Pediatrics, Newborns: Care of the Uncircumcised Penis: Guidelines for Parents (Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics, 1994)
· Boys with an intact foreskin have health advantages over those who have been circumcised. The intact foreskin protects the glans penis from ammoniacal diapers and prevents meatitis, meatal ulceration, and meatal stenosis. The sub-preputial moisture contains lysozyme, an enzyme that attacks and destroys pathogens. Intact boys don't have an open circumcision wound that may become infected and so they have fewer infections. Intact boys are not troubled with adhesions or skin bridges, which are complications of circumcision. (Fleiss P, Hodges F, Van Howe RS. Immunological functions of the human prepuce. Sex Trans Inf 1998;74:364-367)
· Hygiene. We teach little girls how to clean and care for their bodies. Maybe little boys can learn how too. (Dr. Mark Baldridge; Phallic Fear Causes Unconscionable Cutting)
· A program of education leading to continuing good personal hygiene would offer all the advantages of routine circumcision without the attendant surgical risk. (The American Academy of Pediatrics in 2004)
· Let’s also remember that we do not a) live in unsanitary conditions and b) the statements reads “…may be easier after circumcision”.
This is what DH got when he tried to use these as reasons to circ!
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He knows a bunch about the history, and who is/was on the board when each statement came out, and why they might have worded it that ridiculous way. I guess when he comes back, we can ask him.
