Quick Study

CIRCUMCISION

Procedure may not guard against sexually transmitted diseases.

THE QUESTION Does circumcision help protect a man from developing a sexually transmitted disease (STD)?

THIS STUDY analyzed data on 499 men; 201 had been circumcised before age 3. By age 32, 117 of the men reported that they'd had a sexually transmitted infection, most often genital warts, chlamydia or genital herpes. The infection rate was virtually the same -- about 23 percent -- whether men had or had not been circumcised as a child.

WHO MAY BE AFFECTED? Men. In the United States, about 65 percent of all boy babies are circumcised, meaning the skin that covers the tip of the penis is surgically removed. The decision often is based on cultural or religious views or personal preference rather than medical necessity.

CAVEATS Data on STDs came from questionnaires completed by the men. The authors wrote that other research has provided "compelling evidence" that circumcision lowers the risk of men's contracting HIV infection through sex with women.

FIND THIS STUDY March issue of the Journal of Pediatrics.

LEARN MORE ABOUT circumcision at http://www.familydoctor.org and http://www.kidshealth.org (click "For Parents").