HIV in the Circumcised U.S. Up to 500% Higher than Intact Nations

By Jeff Graw, Intact Colorado


In August 2012 headlines across the country read:
Researchers [Johns Hopkins] say that if circumcision rates drop to the level seen in Europe there will be a 12% increase in HIV cases in men.
There must certainly be an AIDS epidemic in Europe then! Yet, compare the HIV statistics between the United States and Europe today. The U.S. circumcision rate was about 80% in the 1970s and 80s; Europe’s rate was less than 10%. So the U.S. should have a much lower HIV infection rate today as our sexually active population has been 'vaccinated' with a high circumcision rate. According to the CIA (they have statistics on everything), the estimated percentage of adults living with HIV/AIDS in 2009 was [1]:


You can see why Johns Hopkins went to Africa to get their statistics. Their very limited studies claim that circumcision reduces the HIV infection rate by 60%. Through most of Europe, where competent healthcare is widely available and hygiene emphasized, the HIV infection rate is 50% (France, Spain) to 500% (Germany, Finland, Greece, Norway, Poland, Sweden) lower than in the United States. So how did Johns Hopkins calculate that HIV rates in the U.S. would increase by 12% if we followed Europe’s lead? Perhaps they need to refine their data models some more.

Another interesting statistic is the comparative death rate per 100,000 people. This ultra-cool website has an interactive world map [2]. Again, with the exception of Portugal, the U.S. ranks much higher than European countries. In fact, the AIDS death rate is 34 times higher in the (circumcised) U.S. than in (intact) Finland... Where’s that headline?

The medical industry in the U.S. is clearly showing us where its priorities are. Circumcision is very profitable and so we press on in our continuation of this 'cure in search of a disease.'

Condoms, not cutting, prevent sexually transmitted infections.

Sources:

1) Central Intelligence Agency: World Fact Book

2) World Health Rankings

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Void of Empathy: Medical Professionals Joke About Circumcision

By Jeff Graw, Intact Colorado


This is in response to the Facebook discussion that took place publicly last week on Dr. Amy Dunbar's page. What follows is a conversation that needs to happen across America because it concerns us all. Please take the time to read and share this widely. Let's get people talking.

Child pornography is illegal; harming a child, especially sexually harming a child, is also illegal. But fetishists have found a legal-loophole in viewing sexually-explicit material of babies being caused extreme pain; it’s called circum-fetish and it is legal. Sources of circum-fetish material include circumcision-humor web sites [1], circum-erotic stories [2], and medically-produced circumcision videos [3]. Considering that doctors are the source of the video material, it is concerning when we read that many doctors use no pain medication at all in this procedure [4], that some doctors and many medical researchers promoting circumcisions belong to circum-fetish groups [5], and that medical professionals in the U.S. are making comments like: "If you get a chance to see a circumcision, it's cool to watch.” [6], and “Circs are at any time always so exciting.” [7]

Canadian researchers concluded this about medical circumcisions: “All of the subjects suffered pain; some were traumatized to the point of danger. The study was halted prematurely after one of the subjects vomited, went into shock and stopped breathing for more than 25 seconds.” [8] Claims that anesthesia reduce the pain do not hold up against observation as can be seen with the circumcision of Benjamin [video below]. Despite two dorsal-block injections that balloon his penis to twice its normal size, it is obvious he is still in an extreme amount of pain, and the doctor comments as he cuts the anesthetized foreskin, “Nobody likes this part.” [9] Often parents are told that their baby slept right through the circumcision; actually this is the second stage of neurologic trauma response. It is called dissociation, where the infant goes into a form of shock. [10] Dr. Van Howe simply concluded “All neonatal circumcisions are painful.” [11] The foreskin contains 70% of the nerves in a man’s penis. [12] Words cannot describe the trauma of this procedure; you must watch the referenced videos for yourself.

Given the nature of this procedure, the potential for abuse is clear. So the discussion on Dr. Amy Dunbar’s Facebook page is concerning, especially in view of the content, professional conduct of the doctors, and that apparently non-medical people were involved in the discussion. The fact that 10 people “liked” this particular conversation is also disturbing. It is doubtful that the baby’s parents would find this discussion amusing:

Dr. Amy Dunbar (Mercy Medical Center, St. Louis, MO): “Nothing I’d rather be doing at 4 am than a circumcision.”

Dr. Yulia Lifits-Podorozhansky (Mercy Clinic Fenton, MO): “Circs are at any time always so exciting.”

Nurse Marisue Riek (Aurora Medical Center, Summit, WI) : “Oh my God… Gomco or Plastibel!,…!”

Dr. Amy Dunbar: “lol. (laugh out loud)”

Nurse Bonnie Tarkinow-Marcus (Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare - St. Joseph, Milwaukee, WI): “Don’t cut anybody short!!!!”

Jason Anthony (unknown): “Better than a wagina. Or a wulwa.”

Nurse Angie Tipton Sqrow (Nurse practitioner at St. Luke's Hospital): “Bet the baby had better things to do. ”


The discussion ends with Dunbar’s comment that she had just delivered the baby, and so decided to circumcise him at 4:00 AM so she didn’t have to come back to the hospital. [7] Hopefully she was awake. Nice way to enter the world; just born then subjected to this. The critical mother-child bonding period following birth was replaced with this procedure.

There is no indication that this is a circum-fetish group, but the semi-public forum and lack of professional ethics and empathy are telling. Researchers tell us that childhood trauma causes changes in our genes [13]; MRI images indicate circumcision causes permanent changes in the brain [14], and researchers found that circumcised infants had higher pain responses as much as six months after the procedure and concluded that the trauma may “permanently alter the structure and function of developing neural pathways” [15]. What’s so funny about that?

The U.S. leads the industrialized world in circumcision rates, in sexually transmitted diseases, in violence against women, and in grown men who think they need to protect themselves from the authorities. Is it possible there may be a link here?



Notes:

[1] http://www.circinfo.net/circumcision_humor.html

[2] Among many: http://circumcision-is-hot.blogspot.co.at/

[3] One of many: Snip-Snip (Florida State University, 2005) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KPmGS3sRok

[4] Although this study is from 1998, PubMed still shows this is a problem in 2012 publications. There are no requirements, or checks, on the doctor using anesthesia; traditionally none has been used. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/moral-landscapes/201109/myths-about-circumcision-you-likely-believe

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9606247

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22577918

[5] This is an extensive page; scroll down to the Gilgal Society section for published researchers involved in this activity. http://www.circleaks.org/index.php?title=Vernon_Quaintance

[6] Nursing Students Against Male Circumcision; Admin Facebook entry January 27, 2013. http://www.facebook.com/nsamc

[7] Discussion on Dr. Amy Dunbar's Facebook page (Jan 30, 2013) screen-captured above.

[8] JAMA; Study of Male Infant Circumcision - University of Alberta 1997, http://www.canadiancrc.com/Circumcision_Genital_Mutilation_Male-Female_Children.aspx

[9] Infant Circumcision Operation (Ben) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2PKdDOjooA

[10] The Effects of Early Relational Trauma on Right Brain Development, Affect Regulation, & Infant Mental Health, http://www.trauma-pages.com/a/schore-2001b.php

[11] Anesthesia Intensive Care "All Neonatal Circumcisions are Painful" http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23194235

[12] Dr. Ryan McAllister, PhD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ceht-3xu84I

Dr. Ken McGrath, MD http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD2yW7AaZFw

[13] Childhood trauma as a cause of psychosis: linking genes, psychology, and biology. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23327756

[14] MRI Studies: The Brain Altered by Circumcision http://www.drmomma.org/2009/10/mri-studies-brain-permanently-altered.html

[15] The psychological impact of circumcision http://www.cirp.org/library/psych/goldman1/#n12

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