Are you circumcised?

mark500 said:
Circumcision is effective in limiting HIV transmission.

We now have confirmation — from large, carefully controlled, randomized clinical trials —showing definitively that medically performed circumcision can significantly lower the risk of adult males contracting HIV through heterosexual intercourse," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. "While the initial benefit will be fewer HIV infections in men, ultimately adult male circumcision could lead to fewer infections in women in those areas of the world where HIV is spread primarily through heterosexual intercourse."
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Apparently, the positive impact of circumcision is fairly substantial:
(Source)
March 29, 2007 -- Circumcised men are up to 60% less likely to get HIV, and now the World Health Organization and the UNAIDS program recommend adult surgery to slow the AIDS pandemic. The recommendation comes only weeks after the WHO and UNAIDS officials asked an expert panel for advice. The advice is based on three clinical trials suggesting that circumcised men are 50% to 60% less likely than uncircumcised men to get HIV during heterosexual sex.
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The study was conducted in Uganda by Johns Hopkins researchers, and apparently was very well controlled.

So, if you think AIDS will still be a problem when your child is sexually active-- this info is certainly worth considering.

Sometimes the cultural/religious practices adopted over many centuries are just superstitions and have no relevancy in the modern world. OTOH, sometimes they remain relevant.
 
Woman have >8% chance of getting breast cancer in their lifetimes. We don't automatically perform breast mastectomies at age 20 (when the chance is .05%), or at menopause (3%). Why is it ok to perform genital mutilation in the off chance that your son might have sex with a woman who has the AIDS virus? The AIDS rate in North America is 0.11%. It's far more likely that your son will turn out gay and have sex with a man, in which case the study doesn't apply (the study was for heterosexual sex).


Those in support can trot out their reasons but, let's face it, the disease percentages aren't what's in the forefront of their minds when the choice is given to them. It's about culture or religion or cleanliness (Is cleanliness really a reason?!? Or is this some sort of cognizant dissonance?).
 
eridanus said:
Woman have >8% chance of getting breast cancer in their lifetimes. We don't automatically perform breast mastectomies at age 20 (when the chance is .05%), or at menopause (3%). Why is it ok to perform genital mutilation in the off chance that your son might have sex with a woman who has the AIDS virus? The AIDS rate in North America is 0.11%. It's far more likely that your son will turn out gay and have sex with a man, in which case the study doesn't apply (the study was for heterosexual sex).


Those in support can trot out their reasons but, let's face it, the disease percentages aren't what's in the forefront of their minds when the choice is given to them. It's about culture or religion or cleanliness (Is cleanliness really a reason?!? Or is this some sort of cognizant dissonance?).
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I appreciate the intent behind your analogy, but there is quite a difference between underdoing a bilateral mastectomy (risk, pain, body image, cost etc. etc.) and a circumcision (15 minutes and a week or two to recover, minimal risk).

Not saying circumcision is or isn't a good idea (I think it's an individual choice issue), but the analogy might be a bit strained.

Amazing how much interest this post gathered.
 
Rich_in_Tampa said:
Amazing how much interest this post gathered.
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It's the catchy title. Turns out to be a bit more controversial than I would have guessed. I do appreciate all the responses though. I think we'll likely take the good Canadian doctors advice of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Seems like solid medical advice.
 
Wow. So many responses.

We chose not to circumcise our son because:
1. It's not medically necessary.
2. It causes pain and has a risk of disfigurement (and since it's not medically necessary...)
3. We believe that it's not right for us to make irreversible, elective medical decisions for our children. (Not in the same ballpark, but we're not going to pierce our daughter's ears for the same reason).

As far as the HIV transmission issue, yes, the research shows that circumcised men have lower HIV infection and transmission rates than intact men. Among the population studied, however, condoms are often out of reach financially or simply unavailable. That's not the case in the US and many developed nations. I expect my children to use condoms until they're in monogamous relationships; that's the HIV protection I'll be giving them.

And if our son wants a circumcision when he's older, we'll foot the bill.
 
Trek said:
It's the catchy title. Turns out to be a bit more controversial than I would have guessed. I do appreciate all the responses though. I think we'll likely take the good Canadian doctors advice of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Seems like solid medical advice.
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Wow. I"ve saved a foreskin in Estonia!

:LOL:
 
For me, this is one of the dumbest subject I have seen in a long time. As Rich has said, 'it appears it is a personal family choice'

I don't know nor have I heard of any circumcised male lamenting 'If only my parents had not mutilated me when I was a child'. Likewise, I have not heard, 'Wow, I sure wish I was cut like that guy over there. It would have been nice if my parents had cared enough when I was little'. It seems almost as ridiculous as one party trying to convince another that Chocolate Ice Cream is really better than Vanilla.
 
Sarah in SC said:
....reason eight hundred billion not to have children....we just have to get the dogs neutered, for pete's sakes!
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Well, apparently, they'll be able to be promiscuous, without getting AIDS, so long as they aren't gay. :)
 
See how easy it is to have dogs compared to kids, Trek! :D
We don't even have to worry about any of that stuff.

Now the sheep...she has decided that climbing all 20 stairs to the front door and waiting for me to come out with some saltine crackers is a good idea. I just know she is going to break her ancient legs one of these times! She gives me plenty to worry about!
 
I am glad I am not single today.
Condoms don't prevent transmission of HPV, thought to be highly associated with cervical cancer. HPV is also associated with squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsils and oral sex. Promiscuity in today's world is risky, despite "safe" sexual practices.
 
mark500 said:
I am glad I am not single today.
Condoms don't prevent transmission of HPV, thought to be highly associated with cervical cancer. HPV is also associated with squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsils and oral sex. Promiscuity in today's world is risky, despite "safe" sexual practices.
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In spite of the fact that a large % of women have some HPV or another, and the whole world is going downtown daily, I haven't heard of an outbreak of sqauamous cell ca of the tonsils.

Are you really sure this is something to worry about?

Ha
 
haha said:
In spite of the fact that a large % of women have some HPV or another, and the whole world is going downtown daily, I haven't heard of an outbreak of sqauamous cell ca of the tonsils.
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Of all cancers, this one comprises about 3.3% in the US. HPV is responsible for 15 to 35 percent of head and neck squamous cell cancers worldwide, perhaps less in the US. Smoking and alcohol are common co-factors in many cases. When I was in training, this was almost always a smoker's disease.

It occurs in about 1:5000 people annually, mostly males (4:1) In the United States. African-Americans have a higher incidence probably due to a higher rate of use of the other known risks.


Something to lose sleep over? Not so much but if you have the risks - and especially if HPV is present, you'd do well to fix them.
 
NEJM -- Human Papillomaviruses in Head and Neck Carcinomas

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=+2]Human Papillomaviruses in Head and Neck Carcinomas[/SIZE][/FONT]​



...Data presented by D'Souza and colleagues11 suggest that sexual behavior is associated with oropharyngeal cancer, as has been suggested previously.7,9 In their study, a high lifetime number of vaginal- or oral-sex partners was associated with the presence of oropharyngeal cancer, and the degree of association increased with an increasing number of vaginal- or oral-sex partners. Transmission of the virus by direct oral contact or by other means could not be excluded, however. In a study that my colleagues and I performed, involving married couples with healthy oral mucosa (sampling at baseline and at months 2, 6, 12, 24, and 36), the results suggested that the oral route is an important means of HPV transmission between partners: one spouse had a 10-fold risk of acquiring persistent oral HPV infection if the other spouse had persistent oral HPV infection.14 Oral sex was not associated with oral or genital HPV infection in these studies, and oral HPV infection in one spouse was unrelated to genital HPV infection in the other spouse.14 In our study and in the study by D'Souza and colleagues, however, the patients were different: the couples we studied were younger and had no evidence of clinical lesions in the oropharynx, whereas those in the study by D'Souza and colleagues were older patients who had oropharyngeal cancer.11
 
Urchina said:
So, if my befuddled brain has this right, you can get head and neck cancer from making out, but not from oral sex.

Isn't this a thread about saving foreskins?
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Tell your teenagers- skip the necking, go for the gold. Isn't science wonderful?

Ha
 
Urchina said:
Wow. So many responses.

We chose not to circumcise our son because:
1. It's not medically necessary.
2. It causes pain and has a risk of disfigurement (and since it's not medically necessary...)
3. We believe that it's not right for us to make irreversible, elective medical decisions for our children. (Not in the same ballpark, but we're not going to pierce our daughter's ears for the same reason).

.....

And if our son wants a circumcision when he's older, we'll foot the bill.
Click to expand...

You know he's going to want his ears pierced too....
 
Meadbh said:
Or other body parts.....
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I'm up for him getting his ears pierced. As for other body parts, I think I'll use the line my mom used on my brother.

"Sure, you can get a piercing. But I get to choose where on your body it goes."

To date, he has no piercings (and is over 30). Tattoos, well, that's another story.
 
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