Male circumcision protects women from AIDS: study

[norml]

Male circumcision protects women from AIDS: study
Wed Feb 8, 2006 6:59 PM GMT

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent


DENVER (Reuters) - Male circumcision, which has been shown to protect men from infection with the AIDS virus, appears to protect women, too, U.S. and Ugandan researchers reported on Wednesday.

Circumcising men reduced infections in their female partners by 30 percent, the researchers found. One said the difference may be related to the structure of the foreskin, which is removed in circumcision.

In the study of more than 300 Ugandan couples in which the man infected the woman, the researchers found that 299 women caught HIV from uncircumcised partners and only 44 were infected by circumcised men.

Circumcision also reduced the risk of infection with other sexually-transmitted diseases such as trichomonas and bacterial vaginosis, but not syphilis, gonorrhea or chlamydia, the researchers told an AIDS meeting in Denver.

Dr. Thomas Quinn of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore has been leading a team that studies 12,000 volunteers in Rakai, Uganda. They have been studying transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS.

Last year they reported that circumcised men were less likely to become infected with HIV. Now, they told the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, it appears that among infected men, circumcision reduces the likelihood they will transmit the virus through sex.


snip


http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2006-02-08T185932Z_01_N08326032_RTRIDST_0_SCIENCE-AIDS-CIRCUMCISION-DC.XML&archived=False

[alcibiades_mystery]

1. And you do mean snip!

;-)

[norml]

4. I hadn't thought of that.

Funny! :))

[merwin]

5. LOL. That made me crack up

[YOY]

2. Hardly a substitute for safe sex or even abstinance in terms of prevention

30%! That's odds most woman can live with! :sarcasm:

[Fridays Child]

3. Hmm. If snipping off the tip helps that much, I wonder...

:evilgrin:

[merwin]

6. Hey! That thought in itself makes me cringe

[Fridays Child]

Couldn't help it...

...just got done reading the SCUM Manifesto. The chick who wrote that was crazy.

[norml]

8. You don't snip the tip.

You snip the skin around the tip.

[Fridays Child]

9. I was being snarky.

I forgot the snarky tag. :P

[benburch]

7. This may explain the differences in infection rates...

In the USA, circumcision is very common, and more men than women contract HIV.

In Africa, where circumcision is rare, the numbers are about even.

[question everything]

20. Interesting cases in Africa

AIDS is rarer in muslim communities than in non-muslim ones. Muslims, like Jews follow their religion directives to circumcise.

[joshcryer]

10. Newsbreak: country with poor hygine has more outbreaks...

...of AIDs in people who require extra hygine to keep from having infections (foreskin requires a bit more care than without, but it's not too hard for westerners since we have nice things like clean running water).

[fob]

13. Exactly. And this part here has me a bit puzzled

In the study of more than 300 Ugandan couples in which the man infected the woman, the researchers found that 299 women caught HIV from uncircumcised partners and only 44 were infected by circumcised men.

How reliable is their determination that the MAN infected the WOMAN? They also tally 343 cases out of "more than 300 couples", why not say that some of the "couples" included some partners on the sly rather than trying to cover it up with word games?

[0007]

28. 'Tis all about keeping "Smegma" to a minimum

[msongs]

11. well maybe female circumcision will have a similar result for men? nt

[norml]

15. I seriously doubt that.

There's no demonstrable benefit from the procedure you mention.

[KittyWampus]

37. I don't think you understand what female "circumcision" really is

[merwin]

12. I wonder how long it will take for the anti-circumcision crowd to say this

study is flawed. Supposedly every study on this topic is flawed :-)

[leesa]

14. 'anti-circumcision crowd' very odd. to cut off part of your body when

there seems to be no need to do so.

[BiggJawn]

27. Could say the same thing about branding, piercing...

...injecting ink into your skin.
Oh, I forget, that's "Body Modification" or "Art", yet circumcision is "mutilation".

So I was an infant when it was done and had no say in it. What about infants who have their ears pierced on their first birthday?

[fleabert]

35. I do equate it to body modification, and I think only an adult should make

that choice.

pierced ears included.

[BiggJawn]

36. Agreed.

After all, what if you get to be 13 and pierced ears go out of style?
"MU-THA! I can't BEE-LEEEEVE you did this to ME!"

Personally, I LIKE the way I look, without that flap that looks like unfinished business hanging off the end. Never had any partners complain, either.

[joshcryer]

16. I'm circumsized, but I am objective about things.

C'mon, it's not controversial that people in countries with poor hygine are going to have it worse off. It's really just common sense. (Btw, I'm not anti-circumcision, just saying that the study obviously is neglecting some pretty obvious things.)

[uncle ray]

21. this study was conducted in one country

so your assertation that people in countries with poor hygene is not relevant.

[joshcryer]

24. It is completely 100% relevant.

The fact that it was done in one country is what makes it most relevant, it would only be an objective study if it was done crossing dozens of cultural boundries and economic environments.

They're trying to say "circumcision is healthier," when clearly the only statement that can be made here is "circumcision is healthier in societies with poor hygine." A no-bainer, really.

We all know that non-cut guys have to keep themselves cleaner. This is not controversial. What's controversial to me is the idea that some poor people in some country somewhere are being used in a study to generalize about STDs as a whole when clearly hygine is the central aspect to the problem. I bet if western males were taken into account here the difference between cut and non-cut would be indiscernable.

[fleabert]

23. like every major medical group?

not one in the world recommends routine circumcision for infant males.

[wicket]

30. yup- including the American Academy of Pediatrics

n/t

[Toucano]

17. Not this again!!!

How many posts will it get this time?

My guess is 600 plus.

[catnhatnh]

18. Is no one going to ask....

what PERCENTAGE of the males were circumsised....that is not stated and if only 10% were circumsised then they are MORE likely to infect their mates....this is either poor reporting or fuzzy math....they are stating an approximate 6:1 ratio without ever stating either the frequency of circumcision or EVEN their sample size.....

[Spinzonner]

19. Isn't this a fore-gone conclusion ?

[Inland]

29. *rimshot* nt

[Spinzonner]

31. Rimshot indeed

[fleabert]

22. again? awesome.

:popcorn:

you know what reduces a woman's risk of uterine cancer by 100%? Hysterectomy.
" " man's risk of penile cancer? remove the whole penis.

this is a crock of shit.

[LisaL]

26. And what about male castration? That should also work wonders.

[gauguin57]

33. I've always said there's not a world problem that wouldn't be solved

by having every male world leader give up a testicle (or two). Reduce the noxious effects of testosterone poisoning on the male-world-leader brain.

[ingac70]

25. Sexual mutilation protects women from AIDS.....

Why not just cut the whole thing off?:sarcasm:

[Lance_Boyle]

32. Causal relationship, or mere correlation?

What cultural factors play into whether or not the men in the study were circumcised? Were the numbers of sexual partners consistent across circumcised and uncircumcised men in the study? Were other HIV risk factors consistent between groups?

Since HIV is a bloodborne virus, I doubt that smegma plays much of a role. Is it known whether there is a difference between circumcised v uncircumcised men in the amount of dermal abrasion of the penis during intercourse? In other words, does the foreskin left in place provide more opportunity for skin abrasion and thus blood transfer during sex? Does the snip render the skin of the penis tougher or otherwise less susceptible to abrasion?

TFA doesn't make things very clear. I'm guessing the scientific publication probably answers my questions more clearly than the Reuters publication.

[wiley]

34. Get out the Hoses!

If men worldwide used condoms and/or, even better, treated women as equals instead of sexual vessels and slaves, AIDS would have been stopped in it's tracks. It has been known for many years that uncircumsized men are more likely to transmit and or aquire HIV and other STDS because of the typically moist warm and irregularly washed foreskin area that often have tiny or even large sores. Female circumsicion is nothing but a cruel and barbaric way to deaden or impair a woman's ability to have orgasms and/or pleasure. It does not prevent men from raping them, either vaginally or rectally, thus spreading HIV and other STDs. Also, anal sex is very widely practiced throughout the world, typically as a means of birth control. Tears in the mucosal lining are far more common, as is HIV transmission through that route - unless of course condoms are used.

[rayofreason]

38. Mohels for health!

Girls - Kosher is Better!!!