Study links autism with circumcision

[Jesus Malverde]

The circumcision of boys is controversial and hotly debated in many countries.

Advocates of circumcision point to cultural, religious, hygiene-related and medical reasons for the procedure, while opponents argue that it infringes on bodily rights and is a severe, painful assault on the individual which can lead to life-long physical and mental damage, with no relevant advantages to health.

A study now pours a little more oil on the flames.

According to the new study, which included 340,000 Danish boys, it looks as though circumcision increases the risk of developing autism.

http://sciencenordic.com/study-links-autism-circumcision

[olddots]

1. yikes

this may get interesting .

[AngryAmish]

38. It will be like "King Kong v Godzilla"

It will bring all the boys to the yard.

[Comrade Grumpy]

2. "Causality remains unproven."

[elleng]

4. Yes.

"The burning question is wether there is a causal relationship. In my opinion, there could easily be some other explanations for the connection found by the study," says Obel.

The professor points out that people who have their baby boys circumcised may differ from those who do not, and that these differences could relate to a predisposition to autism.

[RKP5637]

3. This, will likely be a very long contentious thread. I'm stocking up on

[lumberjack_jeff]

8. This thread needs more Olive Garden. n/t

[RKP5637]

22. +1, n/t

[hifiguy]

23. And a pit bull.

[jmowreader]

20. Go back to the store

You don't have enough. Trust me on this.

[Spider Jerusalem]

5. That sounds like mistaking correlation for causation

circumcision is not common in Denmark....except among certain religious communities (Jews and Muslims). These tend to be religious communities which are traditionally not exogamous--there are high rates of cousin marriage between Muslims in many countries; Ashkenazi Jews, due to endogamous marriage and a historically small population, are all as genetically related as fourth or fifth cousins. So this hypothetical link of autism with circumcision is probably a proxy for something genetic in the Danish populations likely to practise circumcision.

[Jesus Malverde]

6. Great observation...nt

[lumberjack_jeff]

12. It could be due to a shared environmental cause. Maybe Lamb causes Autism? n/t

[HereSince1628]

26. It's also a question of the over-design of sensitivity... sample size of 340,000???

On the simple 2x2 question of relating autism presence to circumcision presence that seems like an awfully large sample.

Having too much sensitivity leads to false positive associations.

[Zorra]

7. Interesting study, in terms of circumcison being a trauma inducing event

altering development at a very young age.

[Hekate]

9. Riiiight. Because there are so many autistic Jews and Arabs. Throughout history.

Good Lord.

[uppityperson]

17. What?

[Hekate]

25. In both of these Abrahamic religions, male circumcision is a religious requirement....

It is a sign of the covenant with God.

In the early Christian church, there was a heated argument over whether new Christians should first convert to Judaism and all its laws. Because Jesus was Jewish.

However, it was decided that since Christianity represented a new covenant with God, conversion to the old covenant should not be required. Thus, not coincidentally, allowing the new religion to spread much more easily.

Nonetheless, to this day, every newborn Jewish boy is circumcised on his 8th day. Catholics still celebrate the Feast of the Circumcision as a holy day in Jesus' life.

[uppityperson]

28. Thank you, I understand all that, was wondering about the autism crack.

Not sure what you meant by that. Thanks.

[Hekate]

29. I was bein really, really sarcastic about the "study." nt

[uppityperson]

32. Thank you, that is what I thought but am trying to clarify vs assume. nt

[AnnieBW]

10. There's a place that I could go with this, but...

As the wife of an Aspie, I'd better not.

[steve2470]

11. all we need now is moon bombing, chicken, Olive Garden, pit bulls and breast-feeding....

and we'll have the_longest_and_most_contentious_thread_in_DU_history!

On a serious note, correlation anyone ?

[hifiguy]

24. Nothing will ever,

EVER top the moon-bombing thread.

[LiberalEsto]

35. Chemtrails! Don't forget those. nt

[Quackers]

13. I call BS on their study.

If circumcision caused autism, then why has autism rates increased while circumcision rates have decreased?


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/07/circumcision-rate-drops_n_5107637.html

http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/searching-for-answers/autism-rise

[Fumesucker]

15. As a hypothetical, much better diagnostic evaluations...

[uppityperson]

14. Correlation does not equal causation. Eating pickles before conception is linked with autism too

A majority of parents ate pickles in the year before they conceived children with autism.

[MrScorpio]

16. Study links autism with studies...

Let's just get that out there in the open, shall we?

[LiberalEsto]

37. bingo!

You definitely raise a significant point.

[oregonjen]

18. In the comments there was a link to another study

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23656698

The use of acetaminophen as a pain killer in infants during circumcision, has shown an increase in autism.

[Chemisse]

34. That is interesting.

And makes this study more comprehensible.

[jwirr]

41. Now that sounds very reasonable. Most baby boys were circumcized before they were two weeks

old and that is very young to withstand the effects of any kind of medication IMO.

[dgibby]

44. No medication is used.

At least no medicine was being used when I was still in nursing (late '90's). Theoretically, it doesn't hurt(infants). Of course, that doesn't explain why they screamed through the entire procedure. If there's a correlation, it's probably pain induced (just my opinion).

[pnwmom]

45. They were giving local lidocaine in that time period. But I hadn't heard about Tylenol

being used then.

[Igel]

43. Don't they teach simple stats to researchers?

I mean, this is the kind of thing where you start to wonder, "Gee, perhaps there's a confound!"

Maybe the drive to publish for fun and profit is so high that people figure it doesn't matter. "If it's bullshit, caveat emptor as long as my CV has another few lines."

[madinmaryland]

19. I think this depends on eating at the Olive Garden in Manhattan, before having one.

[Laffy Kat]

21. Well...whatever...

So glad I didn't put my sons through it. I've always told them that if they wanted to be circumcised as adults, I would pay for it, but I'd rather the choice be theirs. They seem to like themselves the way they were born. Whew!

[hrmjustin]

27. I knew a church that on the Feast of the Circumcision sang the hymn. ..

O Sacred Head Sore wounded.

[dembotoz]

30. makes sense always told men think with their dicks

[jwirr]

31. It was not all that long ago when every boy child in the USA was circumsized. I wonder what the

rate of autism was back then. That was back in the 70s.

The trauma of being circumcised may have some effect but I don't believe it is actually circumcision.

[Chemisse]

36. I don't think they gave the babies any pain medicine in those days.

Especially since they claimed that babies didn't feel pain like we do. And if they had, it would have been aspirin, which is not used now in children.

Autism rates were low then (although it had barely been recognized back then, and many children were probably diagnosed with other disorders or not diagnosed at all in those days).

I'm certainly not buying into this link (between circumcision and autism). Studies correlating things to autism are all over the place. But at least the pain medicine suggestion makes some sense.

[jwirr]

40. I was about 10 years old and in the hospital for surgery. One day I heard this poor child screaming

and asked the nurse what was happening. She told me it was JUST a boy getting circumcised. I remember it as horrible. In that case I don't think they gave him anything before. But yes some kind of pain med makes more sense.

[Hekate]

39. My brothers were born in the late '40s - late '50s & they were....

It was considered good hygiene and modern up to date practice at one time in the US. My husband was born in Europe after the War, and as far as he is concerned in Europe it was and is still considered the ineradicable mark of the Jewish male and no one else. He's Jewish -- my family is not.

[hunter]

33. .

[beam me up scottie]

42. Wow. You are one brave dude, Jesus.

[pnwmom]

46. And yet in the US, circumcision rates have been falling while autism is rising. But I wouldn't

make a correction between those two things.