NY Times: Bris Milah Prevents Disease

Religions do not need science to prove their value. But, it never hurts to have a little external validation now and then.

Vital Signs
Outcomes: Circumcision May Reduce Risk of S.T.D.’s
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR

Men who are circumcised may have a significantly reduced risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted disease compared with those who are not, a New Zealand study has found.

Researchers followed a group of 510 boys born in 1977, giving them frequent periodic medical examinations until they were 25. Thirty percent of them had been circumcised by age 15. A little less than 3 percent reported a medically diagnosed sexually transmitted disease at age 21, and an additional 6.6 percent reported one at 25.

After statistically adjusting for family education, socioeconomic status, number of partners and self-reported unprotected sex, researchers concluded that the odds of acquiring a subsequent S.T.D. were 3.19 times higher for men who were uncircumcised. The study was published this month in Pediatrics.

David M. Fergusson, the lead author of the study and a professor of medical psychology at Christchurch School of Medicine, warned that the results were not conclusive. “We are cautious about the findings,” he said. “They depend on self-reports, and not all studies agree with ours. But our results definitely suggest that circumcision may reduce rates of S.T.D.’s. We think we’re correct, but it’s best not to be dogmatic about it.”

Dr. Fergusson declined to offer advice to parents. “Decisions to circumcise children should not be made on the basis of one study,” he said. “They should be based on all the evidence. There is certainly evidence of benefit, but the complicated decision parents face is weighing the benefits against the risks of a surgical procedure. Even if we assumed all the evidence favored circumcision, most children wouldn’t benefit from it. We estimate that you would have to circumcise 20 boys to prevent one case of sexually transmitted disease.”