Precisely why many of us have opted for more form-fitting attire...
Posted on 07/26/2005 3:33:57 PM PDT by Selkie
Circumcising men can help protect them from the AIDS virus, researchers said on Tuesday after finishing the first study that tried using the procedure specifically to prevent infection.
But United Nations health officials cautioned that more trials were necessary before they would recommend this as a method to protect against AIDS.
The circumcised men were 65 percent less likely to become infected with the deadly and incurable virus, the researchers told the International AIDS Society Conference in Rio de Janeiro.
Several studies have suggested that men who are circumcised have a lower rate of HIV infection. This has been especially noticeable in some parts of Africa, where some groups are routinely circumcised while neighboring groups are not.
Researchers believe circumcision helps to cut infection risk because the foreskin is covered in cells that the virus seems able to easily infect. The virus may also survive better in a warm, wet environment like that found beneath a foreskin.
Bertran Auvert of the French National Research Agency INSERM and colleagues tested more than 3,000 uninfected men aged 18-24 South Africa's Guateng province, where 32 percent of adults are infected.
Some of the men were circumcised at the start of the trial while others had the procedure after 21 months. At the end of the trial, researchers registered 69 HIV cases, and only 18 of them were in the men who were circumcised at the start.
"It shows that the intervention (circumcision) prevented between six and seven out of 10 possible infections," said Auvert, noting that although the protection rate was high it was only partial.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
What a crock.
Abstinence is a pretty good way to reduce AIDS.
See post #4
WITHOUT being indelicate, most Catholic boys in this country did not USED to be circumciesed.
I had several male cousins, and none of them were.
So does a "semi-circ" semi-reduce the effectiveness of the word "may"...
note "may"..same was said for spermacide...
That's me ... intolerant!
I have NO idea.
:-)
Most of my cousins are close to my age, 35 or older.... ( I'm 45 come September) Just Not the sort of thing you ask about over Thanksgiving or Easter dinner!
Say what? I'm 62 years old, Catholic all those years and been circumcised all those years (well almost all :). Catholic boys have been getting circumcised at least that long I would say.
Well, apparently in my family, they did NOT.
Possibly regional difference?
Also, there was a REAL PUSH in the 60's to circumsize little boys for "health reasons", and there was nothing religieous about it. Just something the doctors and hospitals pushed for.
A circumcised male that has his exposed head constantly rubbing against his clothing looses a significant ammount of it's sensation. Since naturally it came encased in the protective foreskin, once circumcised away the skin of glandular head toughens up to keep itself protected loosing sensitivity.
Transmission of HPV is also greatly reduced by circumcision. And since it's endemic, at least in the U.S. (with various studies showing between 60% and 75% of all women having had it at some point), and I think everywhere else too, this is not a small consideration. While most HPV strains are harmless, a few of them are responsible for over 99% of cervical cancer cases. And plenty of those cases are in women who never slept with anyone but their husband.
Circumcision has been pretty routine in the U.S. for several decades until very recently. And combined with the fact that circumcision has also been shown to reduce HPV transmission, I doubt the "less likely to be exposed" theory holds water.
The risk of transmission from a female to a male in the US seems to be very low. However, it appears in Africa, there are a lot of men who get the virus through heterosexual sex. Some countries have up to 40% of the adult population with HIV, and it's hard to see how that would happen without plenty of heterosexual transmission. I have read claims that there is a lot of homosexual activity in Africa; but studies show that the fraction of the male population that is homosexual is something like 2%, at least in Europe and the US. So I think it is wise to conclude that heterosexual transmission of HIV in Africa is very real, Michael Fumento (The Myth of Heterosexual AIDS) not withstanding.
Oooo...never heard it put quite that way. LOL
Not everybody has a one dimensional mindset.
The article confirms that there are many more factors involved in contracting or transmitting AIDS than simply personal responsibility.
Well theyve still got their frenulum to have fun with.
If you've been 'done', you're a "Roundhead"....if you're au naturel, you're a "Cavalier".
Note: source of this knowledge not to be considered suspect! Chit-chat with several couples around a few bottles of W.A. white wine.
Precisely why many of us have opted for more form-fitting attire...
LOL...I've always heard the difference referred to as "Turtlenecks" and "Ant Eaters."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.