Uncircumcised boys and men may face more UTIs

Reuters Health -
NEW YORK | Fri Dec 7, 2012

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.

Australian researchers say that 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.


Zbys Fedorowicz, director of the Bahrain branch of the UK Cochrane Centre, a non-profit organization that evaluates medical studies, said that the 22-study analysis combined different types of studies and the researchers failed to assess their quality.
"It doesn't mean to say that these guys are necessarily wrong, it's just that we don't know because the methodological approach that they used isn't thorough enough, it's not transparent, it's not reproducible and it's not clear," Fedorowicz said.


Dr. Robert Van Howe, clinical professor of pediatrics at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and vocal critic of circumcision, also found the new study problematic.
Van Howe said that diagnostic criteria for urinary tract infections differ between researchers and that the cost/ benefit analysis of circumcision as a preventive tool for infections doesn't add up.

Read the full Reuters Health report




 

Stress and anxiety linked to sperm quality

(Reuters Health) - A man's ability to produce sperm may depend on his ability to handle stress, according to a new study from Italy.

Researchers found that men with higher levels of both short- and long-term stress and anxiety ejaculated less semen and had lower sperm concentration and counts. Men with the highest anxiety levels were also more likely to have sperm that were deformed or less mobile.

But one fertility researcher not involved in the new work said it's hard to know how the results apply to the general population because the research included men who were already seeking treatment at a fertility clinic.

Read the full Reuters Health report