During infancy, circumcision has a low rate of causing complications, but things change after boys begin to get older, says a new report. You might be wondering, what is circumcision. Well, it is an act of removing the foreskin from a child's penis after they are born.
Researchers based in America carried out studies on over 1.4 million boys who were circumcised at an early age. Of this number, 93.3 percent were circumcised as a newborn. According to the study, the overall possible 41 complications was less than 0.5 percent. However, the risk of experiencing complications was 20 times higher for boys ages 1 to 9 years. For boys circumcised 10 years or older, the risk of complications increased 10 times compared to when they were less than one year old.
"Given the current debate about whether MC should be delayed from infancy to adulthood for autonomy reasons, our results are timely and can help physicians counsel parents about circumcising their sons," according to author Charbel El Bcheraoui, Ph.D.
Parents should not view circumcision as a terrible thing due to some boys experiencing complications, as they get older. Previous studies have shown that the art of circumcision has reduced the risk of urinary tract infection, and can also help prevent males from contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Circumcision isn't just a positive thing for males, as it also benefits women. A male who has a circumcised penis can help prevent his spouse from experiencing cervical cancer, genital ulceration, bacterial vaginosis and HPV.
As it stands, circumcision is both a good and a bad thing, which means we are unable to recommend it for everyone and rather leave this decision up to parents. Still, parents who choose to go with circumcision should talk to a doctor before circumcising their child, as the doctor would be able to educate parents on the best possible methods to go about doing it that might prevent future complications.
The art of circumcision has been in practice for thousands of years, and was mostly used for religious purposes. These days, circumcisions are for health purposes, and just a general family tradition.
