By Maria CendejasMen who have prostate cancer are less likely to be circumcised, according to new research, according to Health Day News.The study was published March 12 in the journal Cancer. The researchers suggest a possible reason is that circumcision reduces the risk of sexually transmitted diseases that may contribute to prostate tumors.The study hasn’t confirmed that circumcision directly lowers the risk of prostate cancer, and the lead author of the study urged that the findings shouldn't play a role in the decisions of parents about the sometimes-controversial procedure.“The results fit in with existing knowledge about how cancer develops,” said study author Dr. Jonathan Wright, an urologic oncologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center at the University of Washington in Seattle, "It helps us to understand how cancers develop and ultimately learn how to combat the disease." Circumcision is the removal of the foreskin that covers the penis tip, and it is usually done shortly after birth. They say that the procedure is unnecessary, painful and a disfigurement that robs men of sexual sensation.  But research in recent years has suggested that circumcision reduces the risk of sexually transmitted diseases like HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Scientists think circumcision does that by eliminating the ability of germs to lurk under the foreskin. “Previous research by the study authors found no link between circumcision and lower risk of prostate cancer. But the new study is larger,” Wright explained.Researchers examined medical records and surveyed 1,754 men who were diagnosed with prostate cancer in the Seattle area and 1,645 of those men were healthy.Of those who had prostate cancer 65% had been circumcised before the first time they had intercourse, compared with 69% of the healthy men.Those that had prostate cancer were still less likely to have been circumcised after the researchers adjusted their statistics so they wouldn't be thrown off by factors like high or low numbers of men of certain incomes, education levels or race.The study doesn't prove that circumcision has anything to do with prostate cancer. Some other factor could explain this difference between the men with prostate cancer and the healthy ones, or it could be a statistical fluke.“But it makes sense that germs from sexually transmitted diseases would find it easier to get into the body, and then into the prostate, in the uncircumcised men,” Wright said. “It's possible that they set up shop in the prostate and turn on inflammation, and then the inflammation leads to cancer development."Research has linked infections to some kinds of cancer, he explained.Brian Morris, a professor of molecular medical sciences at Australia's University of Sydney who studies circumcision, praised the study's design and said,” It provides even more reason for parents to opt for this 'surgical vaccine. Circumcision protects baby boys from urinary infections that can damage their kidneys as well as other diseases over their lifetimes.”A lecturer in epidemiology and medical statistics at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Natasha Larke, who has also studied circumcision, said," The study was well done although there were limitations. For one, the study didn't include all prostate cancer patients in the Seattle region, she said. And even if a possible effect of circumcision is confirmed, it appears to be modest.''Even though the study found an association between circumcision and lower risk of prostate cancer, it didn't prove a cause-and-effect relationship.(Editor's note: Why should researchers conduct this study in the first place?  It could be that some organizations want to promote circumcision!  The bible never says that men need to be circumcised to be healthy! After all, there are lots of problems with circumcision that the media and the medical circle do not want you to know.)http://foodconsumer.org/7777/8888/Non-f_ood_Things_27/030707072007_Male_Circumcision_May_Increase_Women_s_Risk_of_HIV_Infection.shtml

Circumcision Exposed!  The Hidden Trauma http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/circumcision.htm