Circumcision Benefits Are Significant, Pediatricians Say
The guidelines also say that circumcision lowers the risk of urinary tract infections in infants, genital herpes, human papilloma virus, cervical cancer in women and penile cancer.
Still, "the degree of benefit is modest enough that you don't have to say everyone has to do it," Freedman said. "It's not like wearing a seatbelt vs. not wearing a seat belt."
Risks include significant bleeding, which occurs in about one in 500 boys, he said. As for loss of sexual sensation during adulthood because of the loss of nerve endings on the foreskin, Freedman said it's a poorly studied issue.
"There are lots of people who are unhappy" about a lack of sexual sensation, he said, but "millions of men are perfectly happy. From a scientific standpoint, we really don't have a good handle on it."
Will the guidelines from the association matter? Freedman said parents often turn to pediatricians and obstetricians for guidance, and they in turn read the guidelines.
Arleen Leibowitz, a specialist in health policy and a research professor at the University of California, Los Angeles Luskin School of Public Affairs, praised the guidelines. They "recognize that information on the benefits has been increasing," she said.
"It's very much a personal decision, and they're striking the right tone," Leibowitz added.
Her own research has suggested that thousands of poor people don't have their infants circumcised because their states don't cover the procedure through Medicaid.
SOURCES: Andrew Freedman, M.D., director, pediatric urology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles; Arleen Leibowitz, Ph.D., research professor, University of California, Los Angeles Luskin School of Public Affairs; September 2012 Pediatrics
Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Published: August 2012
