couple things posted to a mailing list (i assume both are from BMA/BJU because of who it is)
The circumcised penis requires more care than the intact penis during the
first three years of life, according to a report in the British Journal of
Urology. The the clinical findings of an American pediatrician showed that
circumcised boys were significantly more likely to have skin adhesions,
trapped debris, irritated urinary opening, and inflammation of the glans
(head of the penis) than were boys with a foreskin. Furthermore, because
there are a large variations of apperance in circumcised boys, circumcision
for cosmetic reasons should be discouraged.
A cost-utility analysis, based on published data from multiple observational
studies, comparing boys circumcised at birth and those not circumcised was
undertaken using the Quality of Well being scale, a Markov analysis, the
standard reference case, and a societal perspective. Neonatal circumcision
increased incremental cost by $828.42 per patient and resulted in an
incremental 15.30 well-years lost per 1000 males. If neonatal circumcision
was cost-free, pain free, and had no immediate complications, it was still
more costly than not circumcising. Using sensitivity analysis, it was
impossible to arrange a senario that made neonatal circumcision cost-
effective. Neonatal circumcision is not good health policy, and support for
it as a medical proceedure cannot be justified financially or medically.
Foreskin Reduces the Force Required for Penetration and Increases Comfort.
Masters and Johnson observed that the foreskin unrolled with
intercourse.However, they overlooked a prior observation that
intromission(i.e. penetration) was thereby made easier. To evaluate this
observation an artificial introitus was mounted on scales. Repeated
measurements showed a 10-fold reduction of force on entry with an initially
unretracted foreskin as compared to entry with a retracted foreskin. For the
foreskin to reduce the force required it must cover most of the glans when
the penis is erect.
and alas, as always - it will come to this: FLAME ON!
