September 2008

Medical Proof of Circumcision Benefits

Compelling medical data (much of it accumulated in the past 2 decades) have conclusively shown that a boy circumcised as a newborn has multiple lifetime health advantages compared to one with an “intact” foreskin.  These include protection against serious kidney infections in infancy, sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s) including human immunodeficiency (HIV) infections, chlamydia infection and human papilloma virus (HPV) in young men and invasive cancer of the penis in middle and old age.  In addition, all through life uncircumcised males are more susceptible to penile infections and a variety of skin disorders of the penis such as eczema and psoriasis, as well as more difficulty maintaining good hygiene especially when old and in diabetics.  About 1% of boys are born with only a pinpoint opening at the tip of the foreskin preventing retraction, leading to painful erections and requiring future circumcision, at a time when the procedure is more difficult, risky and costly.  Furthermore women sexual partners of uncircumcised men with HPV infection are at significantly greater risk of developing cervical cancer.

If the evidence favouring circumcision is so strong, why is the public given contradictory and misleading information?  The reasons are at least twofold. Probably most important is the lack of interest and objectivity of organized medicine.  The second source of misrepresentation is by the activist, lay anti-circumcision groups, which dominate the media and the internet and concentrate on anecdotes, testimonials and undocumented opinions.

As for HPV penile infections and cervical cancer, in 2002 a report in the New England Journal of Medicine reviewed over 1900 sexual partners from 7 different studies in 5 countries.  It was found that uncircumcised men were 3 times more likely to develop penile HPV infection as were circumcised men and female partners of the uncircumcised men were at significantly greater risk of developing cervical cancer.  Using data from the same study Chlamydia infections, common in young adults and teen-agers are an important cause of infertility, was found to be 3 times as likely if the man was uncircumcised and 10 times more prone to develop severe kidney infections in the first year of life.

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