Newborn responses to
pain, in fact, are greater
than those in adult
subjects.
Fifty percent increases in heart rate
and three- to four-
fold increases
in cortisol levels havebeen documented
in response to
circumcision.
Circumcision meets the definition of a
traumatic event and a baby can
go
into shock in response to the
procedure. The absence of crying can
be part of the shock response and
is not an indication that there is
no
pain. Bodily signs show that severe
pain is always present.
The latest claim of pro-circumcision
advocates is that circumcision
will
help prevent HIV. When one looks
closely at the studies used to
support
this claim, it is clear that the men who
carried out the RCTs
have a previous
history of promotingcircumcision. It
is also
interesting to note that many
researchers have suffered circumcision
as infants and are likelyto defend
their beliefs to support
circumcision.
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