Pain
Several studies have suggested that a fetus can feel pain
as early as 30 weeks of age, while still safely inside
the uterus. To be sure, the anatomical configuration
of nerve cells in a normally developing fetus is in
place by the stage of neonatal development. However,
the nerve responses are not developed sufficiently or
organized enough to feel pain the way a 6-month
old child may feel pain.
Try thinking of the neural receptors that transmit pain
from the site of injury to the brain as a wooden foot
bridge. In the newborn, this neural transmission bridge
has some of the planks missing, or not yet "nailed down".
Using this example, you may be able to get a rough idea
of why an infant wonīt feel prolonged pain or
discomfort form the operation of circumcision.
Here is a good time to point out that a physician or a
mohelīs skill is required diring the circumcision to
provide not only a desired cosmetic appearance of the
penis, but to minimize any discomfort to the child. As
you might expect, deft swiftness is a prized trait in
circumcision operations. ...
Before you label the practice of infant operations
without anesthetics totally inhumane, think for a
moment what the word "pain" means to you. A splinter
on the heel of your foot? A smashed finger?
A throbbing headache?
Perhaps someone you know has suffered a serious illness
or accident. Truly those situations can register
vivid memories of pain.
Just thinking of the word can make some folks wince.
Of course there are other situations that evoke
"pain": a sore neck, or even an insult or co-worker
that gets on your nerves can cause you anguish and
pain.
An important thing to remember is that pain is often
confused with sensation. Have you ever seen a comedy
routine where a male gets hit in the groin? The audience
members (especially males) are receiving a mental
transmission that pain is occurring, although they feel
no actual discomfort.
This is the sympathetic pain, which is a scenario many
parents may face when they learn that the newborn
circumcisions are routinely performed in a hospital
setting without anesthesia. It seems unpleasant in
nature, but actually newborn nerve receptors
are not fully developed and they do not feel
what we adults have come to know as "pain". ...
Ask a woman who has been conscious during a Caesarian
section by having a spinal epidural, and she will
likely tell you that she could feel the entire operation!
But feeling the sensation of the operation, and
experiencing "pain" during the C-section are two
entirely different events.
Pain is a healthy, normal sensation that is intended to
remove you from a source of discomforting sensation.
If someone comes at you with a knife, you move away,
because you sense the threat of pain. If you cut
your finger while slicing a tomato, then you
immediately tend the wound, as your brain is
receiving a message that there is an injury to the body.
These are examples of highly developed reasoning
and chemical message patterns that the brain has
learned through behavioral patterns. A toddler
who has been told that an object is hot, may still
test the object with his finger, since the brain
has not yet linked a pain message with touching
something hot.
Obviously newborns do not have any learned behavior
messages that link pain with actions or events. But
holding a child tightly and exposing him to hot or
cold stimuli will trigger an instinct to cry quite
vigorously - an infantīs alarm that something is amiss.
Although the chemical messengers are not fully
developed, and they become quite sophisticated
within the first weeks of life, there are still
some important reflex impulses - such as crying -
present at birth.
Surely an immunization shot produces a sensation, but to
what degree does it hurt? Yet would you as a parent forego
the immunization protection to avoid inflicting a short
duration of discomfort or pain to a child? ...
The Cancer Question
... Penile Cancer is one of the diseases that could be
almost totally eradicated in the world, if all cultures
subscribed to the practice of circumcision. It is the
only surgery that can be performed to prevent cancer
which does not affect the function of the organ.
Women and men who have faced breast or even genital
cancer, generally do not hesitate to have one of the
most erogenous portions of their bodies removed,
wholly or in part, to save their lives....
..., there is one preemptive surgery which scientist
and cancer specialists say can totally prevent squamous
cell penile cancer in males: CIRCUMCISION.
Doctors have since added a caveat to that statement,
saying that circumcision performed during infancy is
the best preventive measure. In fact, studies in other
European and desert-land countries show that
circumcision among adult men did not fully curb
the manīs exposure to penile cancer.
Here is an important reason why that statement is true.
Remember the waxy, cheese-like substance that builds up
under the edge of the foreskin, called smegma?
Medical studies have shown that smegma inhibits the
skinīs natural defenses against disease and can
promote a cancerous reaction (also known medically
as a carcinogen).
If you wore the same sock everyday for a year - never
changing it or taking it off - but occasionally
washing your feet with the sock on, you would be
shocked at the condition of your feet when the
sock was removed (if it could be removed!).
... The genitals of an uncircumcised male is not
so different from a foot in a sock, sweating in a
shoe. Tinea cruris, popularly known as "Jock Itch"
is a fungal infection, which is prone to affect
the crotch area. When a form of that fungus is
found in the foot area, it is called Athleteīs
Foot. While these fungi can be treated, they are
a nuisance and have a favorite human hiding
place. So does the herpes virus, which is prone
to affect mucous membranes around the lips, vulva
and foreskin sites.
... Several medical studies, cited in 1966 agreed that penile
cancer was largely eradicated by circumcision in the U.S. But
the disease is not extinct. The National Cancer Institute
in Betheseda, Maryland estimates that in 1995 there
will be 1,100 male genital cancers reported, with 210
deaths attributed to the disease. This number is low
compared to an estimated 244,000 cases of prostrate
cancer in men, which will likely result in 40,000
deaths in 1995. However low the number, research
suggests that circumcision can buffer the odds
against developing penile cancer.
© G.N. Weiss and A.W. Harter, Wiser Publications 1998.
Extracts reproduced by kind permission of the authors.
