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Re: REQUEST : Foreskin / circumcision
In article <ghenDwG471.H6x@netcom.com>,
Dhruba Chakravarti <dchakrav@netserv.unmc.edu> wrote:
>John Erickson (qsmd@visioncom.net) wrote:
>: What is the Hindu attitude about the male foreskin and circumcision?
>
>Dear Sri John:
>
>I can talk about my attitude about it. I think that it is enitrely
>unnecessary. It is amazing that even some doctors say that it prevents
>foreskin cancer. There is no study to support such a hypothesis, and
>they know that any study will prove them wrong. There are 930 Million
>Indians in India, 80% Hindus, none of them are circumcized, male or
>female, and foreskin cancer is not a common problem in India.
Societies where the average lifespan is shorter will almost be assured
to have lower cancer rates, simply because the people will die of
something else before they die of cancer.
Any study which doesn't account for the difference in lifespans (among
other things) should be suspect, and in general, I view a lot of these
cross-cultural studies with a bit of suspicion, since there are many
variables involved.
That said, I should also state that I'm unaware of the breakdown of
the causes of mortality in India. I would imagine that such a
breakdown doesn't exist, or if it does, it has a large margin of
error. I don't imagine the cause of death in many cases is really
determined.
-Vivek
