"When many cures are offered for a disease, it means the disease is not curable" -Anton Chekhov
''Once you tell people there's a cure for something, the more likely they are to pressure doctors to prescribe it.'' -Robert Ehrlich, drug advertising executive.
"Opinions are like sphincters, everyone has one." - Chris Rangel
Much Ado About Nothing II:Andrew Sullivan is in a lather again over the issue of circumcision. (You have to scroll down to the "MGM and HIV" post.) He links to this story about the susceptibility of the foreskin to HIV infection. The skin lining the foreskin has a higher concentration of the type of cells that are particularly sensitive to the HIV virus compared to, say, the cervix or the outside of the foreskin. Sullivan is correct that the transmission of HIV from women to men isn't as common as the transmission from man to man or from man to woman, but that doesn't invalidate the study. Circumcision does seem to provide a protection against HIV infection, just as it also provides protection against other sexually transmitted diseases. The foreskin, even though it was put there by mother nature, is a fold of skin that provides nooks and crannies for viruses and bacteria to gather. That's just the way it is, like it or not. As to his claim that circumcised penises are at more risk for infection because they are "mutilated", that's just nonsense. The circumcised penis heals within a week of the procedure. There are no open sores or cuts or any other skin breakdown in the healthy circumcised adult penis. Sullivan has been down this road before. He has mentioned in the past that his mother told him he suffered a great deal after his own circumcision. The story seems to have influenced his feelings on the subject. These days, most doctors use a local anesthetic when performing circumcision and the babies do just fine. I am no circumcision advocate. I think of it as a cosmetic procedure, and as such a matter of personal choice. Sullivan, however, is passionately anti-circumcision. He too often allows that passion to cloud his usually level-headed logic. His posts on the subject remind me of the attitude of breastfeeding advocates toward infant formula. posted by Sydney on
5/29/2002 08:47:00 AM
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