Uncircumcised boys and men may face more UTIs

Reuters Health ^ | Fri Dec 7, 2012 5:15pm GMT | Trevor Stokes

[Olog-hai]

Infections of the kidney, bladder and urethra happen in uncircumcised baby boys at ten times the rate of circumcised boys, and over a lifetime, uncircumcised men are four times more likely to experience one, according to a new analysis of past research.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are most common in boys’ first year of life, and circumcision was already known to make a difference in their risk, but how much and whether that carried through to adulthood was unclear, Australian researchers say.

They found that circumcision “provides considerable protection and over the lifespan makes about a three- to four-fold difference by our prediction, which is quite striking in public health terms,” lead study author Brian Morris, professor of molecular medical science at the Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, told Reuters Health. …

[Marie]

Just wow.