Male circumcision has come in and out of favor for centuries. It’s a practice as old as the written word, yet its true origins are unknown. Various theories on circumcision’s origins exist, but all of these predate any medical evidence that male circumcision had health benefits. Yet it looks increasingly like this religion- and tribal-based instinct–thousands of years old–intuited what modern medical studies now show.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have released draft guidelines on male circumcision which say medical evidence supports the practice of male circumcision, which is currently in a downward swing in popularity. Dr. Aaron Tobian, a Johns Hopkins University researcher, tells The Huffington Post: “The benefits of male circumcision have become more and more clear over the last 10 years.” It appears that circumcisions:
- Cut a man’s risk of getting HIV from an infected female partner by 50 to 60 percent;
- Reduce their risk of genital herpes and certain strains of human papillomavirus by 30 percent or more; and
- Lower the risk of urinary tract infections during infancy, and cancer of the penis in adulthood.
