Circumcision increases autism risk???

[DinosaurTrain]

Eh?!

Obviously I don't believe it, but now pondering if we've added something to the birthing experience that is causing some cases??

I recall a correlation between pre-natal stress and ASD being discussed a time ago - the theory being that exposure to certain hormones at a higher rate, for some babies, would increase the risk of ASD.
So possibly stress hormones and pain hormones in very early infancy might influence brain development and thus ASD likelihood?

I haven't seen the paper. But clearly circumcision is in most cases wholly unnecessary and amounts to child abuse. Children should be protected against such parents and it should be made illegal until the child can decide for itself, aged 18. Parents should face prosecution in my view unless of course it is undertaken for medical reasons.

Unscientific, religious barbarism, that is what it is.

LemonySnug - Would you like me to send you details of upcoming local circumcisions in our areas? You could call the local police/CPS - I'm sure they'd be very interested .

The issue with the article as reported is that as as I understand it, virtually no-one in Denmark has the op, so you're talking about a very small number of case studies, the vast majority having medical indications for it, and I suppose it is possible that seeing more doctors they are more likely to be diagnosed with autism (in any case often a bit of a guess). The study really needs to take place where a higher percentage have the op, so as to minimize the risk of other factors being in play.

If you were to cut of a child's finger soon after birth you would be prosecuted.

This is no different ...... except it is through religion endorsed barbarism (Islam, Judaism) and our politicians are tiptoeing through misguided political correctness around them.

LS - scarcely political correctness. It has always been legal and still is, if the police will tell you if you give them a call.

Have people been pressuring you or anyone else to do the op? If so, I hope you told them where to go. If not, I can't say how much I appreciate your concern for Jewish, Muslim, American, Korean, Filipino and loads of other children round the world......

bertie sums my thoughts up and we've been on debates about this but basically: it's mutilation and should be banned. End of.

I don't buy the "it's legal" argument. Slavery used to be legal but it wasn't right. Marital rape used to be legal - that wasn't right either. As a society, we evolve and our laws need to evolve with us. About time circumcision for anything other than medical need was made illegal.

They havent stated causality, only a corrolation.

Circumcision is akin to FGM and should be made illegal.

Completely agree with the last 3 posters. Circumcision is abhorrent. How anyone could go that to their child is beyond me. It is mutilation.

My son is not circumcised and has it.

I'm not sure I buy the stress theory either... I was under severe stress with DS and he's NT plus women give birth in war zones to NT children. I think it must be a combination of several factors that trigger it...

All the males in my family are circumcised at birth and are not autistic.

My son who is autistic was autistic from in the womb and he wasn't circumcised till he was about 9 and it was only done then for medical reasons.

In the 80s in the US, circumcision rates were up around 80% - was there a higher level of autism? What about autism in girls?

And the hormone Miggsie has referred to is Oxytocin and the theory regarding it has been doing the rounds for at least 30 years. That and the theory of a parents ring finger being longer than the finger next to it in parents who have an a child on the spectrum.

How do we account for girls with autism

This report sounds like the perfect storm of autism + [name your pet peeve] that tends to gain a life of its own, sheds no light but generates much heat instead, and ends up doing a good deal of harm, just as the autism + MMR 'study' did.

Publishing rubbish 'science' like this that makes parents who may in all good conscience have had their children either vaccinated or circumcised wonder if that caused their child's autism, is really cruel. Parents of children with autism deserve better.

The issue here is not circumcision's advantages or disadvantages and inflammatory language equating it with FGM is not helpful to any discussion but irresponsibility on the part of people doing research who are preying on the vulnerability of families coping with autism.

Link to paper

www.rsm.ac.uk/about-us/media-information/2015-media-releases/ritual-circumcision-linked-to-increased-risk-of-autism-in-young-boys.aspx

very good post mathanxiety

I dont think anyone is suggesting that circumcision directly causes autism.

But ASD is caused by something different in the brain - surely it is very possible that the stress caused by a traumatic event like circumcision could have a permanent effect on some part of the brain, and that permanent effect could be a contributory factor in ASD.

According to the abstract linked to above it seems more that the author has considered the link between pain and impact in brain and whether this can impact ASD. I think the only reason he has chosen circumsised boys to follow is that it is an easily quantifiable early traumatic event. As usual the papers have translated as circumcision causes autism, rather than an early painful event may be a contributory factor in ASD..