61 lines
3.4 KiB
Plaintext
61 lines
3.4 KiB
Plaintext
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Executive News Svc.
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APn 03/06 1955 Circumcision
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Copyright, 1989. The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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By PAULINE JELINEK Associated Press Writer
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CHICAGO (AP) -- Newborn boys may benefit from circumcision, the American
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Academy of Pediatrics said Monday in a modification of its previous stand, but
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the organization stopped short of endorsing the procedure.
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The academy, which has a membership of 37,000 pediatricians, said it was
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changing the position it adopted in 1971, when it found "no absolute medical
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necessity" to circumcise newborns.
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The group now believes circumcision, the removal of a band of skin encircling
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the tip of the penis, may help prevent some urinary tract infections, said Dr.
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Donald Schiff, the academy's president.
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"The previous statement was pretty dogmatic and no longer holds," he said.
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Circumcision is the nation's most commonly performed surgical procedure, but
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appears to be on the decline.
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About 75 percent of infant boys in the United States are circumcised now,
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compared with 85 to 90 percent 10 or 15 years ago, Schiff said.
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The academy, which is based in suburban Elk Grove Village, said the decision
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on whether a child should be circumcised is best made by parents in consultation
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with their doctors.
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"Before, we told parents there may be social and religious reasons to do it
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but that there were no specific medical benefits," Schiff said. "Now we can tell
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them there may be some potential value."
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The group was influenced partly by 1985 studies at Army hospitals that found
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an elevenfold increase in urinary tract infections in uncircumcised boys
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compared with circumcised infants, Schiff said. The study involved 200,000
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infants.
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"When physicians talk to parents, they should say we still don't know for
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sure, but there is data that suggests not having a circumcision is linked with a
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greater liklihood of urinary tract infection," Schiff said.
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However, the Army research is not convincing enough to merit an all-out
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endorsement of circumcision, Schiff said. He said the studies may have been
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flawed.
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"If those studies are corrorborated ... we could take an even stronger
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position," Schiff said, adding that further research is under way.
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In its statement on circumcision, the academy said infants undergoing
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circumcision without anesthesia appear to experience pain.
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But, it said, "reported experience with local anesthesia in newborn
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circumcision is limited, and the procedure (anesthesia) is not without risk."
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More studies are needed before routine local anesthesia can be endorsed, the
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group said.
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Circumcision is a controversial issue worldwide. The first International
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Symposium on Circumcision was held last week in Anaheim, Calif., sponsored by
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the National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers and the
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Institute for the Advancement of Human Behavior.
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The symposium concluded that the medical need for circumcision is very rare
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and that ordinarily it should not be done, said Billy Boyd, a participant and
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co-founder of The Victims Speak, a group working against circumcision.
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"Parents do not have the right to consent to unnecessary medical procedures
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on their children," and physicians have an obligation to refuse to remove normal
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body parts, the symposium said in a policy statement presented to the California
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Medical Association.
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