Nov 26, 2008 11:29 pm US/Eastern
Circumcision Debate Pits Science Vs. Religion
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
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A circumcision debate is pitting science against religion.
CBS
A circumcision debate is pitting science against religion.
It's the same basic procedure whether it's done in the hospital or the home. But as
Sally Thorner explains, there is one major difference.
Two babies--both newborn boys--are having very different experiences. Like 70% of males, they are circumcised, but their response is pitting science against religion. What's up for debate is the management of pain during their surgeries.
"The moment that we are waiting for," said Rabbi Moshe Rappaport. "It might be a little uncomfortable, and at the same time, it might be very magical."
In the Jewish religion, a Mohel performs the ritual circumcision, called a bris. Rabbi Rappaport minimizes the baby's pain with a numbing solution and wine for the baby to suck on.
"There's something right when the baby has a natural reaction to a bris and cries for a short time," he said.
While the ritual circumcision typically happens in the home when the baby is eight days old, the medical circumcision happens in a hospital soon after the baby is born.
A baby in the hospital is given Tylenol and sucks on sugar water. The big difference is they receive an injection to numb the entire area.
"It's inconceivable to me that there are even questions about this anymore," said Dr. Myron Yaster.
Dr. Yaster is a pediatric anesthesiologist and an Orthodox Jew. As a physician, Yaster's views on babies and pain trump his religious beliefs.
"Historically, it was long believed that babies or newborns did not feel or remember pain to the same degree that older children and adults do," he said. "We now know that that's completely incorrect."
In a recent study, Canadian researchers found that boys who are circumcised without pain relief are more sensitive to pain later in life.
"The parents are the consumer here. Do they want their child to experience the pain or not? There are techniques that are available, very easy to do, very simple that will eliminate the pain," Dr. Yaster said.
"Pain is okay," Rabbi Rappaport said. "It's a ritual, a covenant, a connection."
It's religion vs. science and a debate over pain management that doesn't end here.
"Everybody looks at pain as being bad," Rabbi Rappaport said. "Pain demonstrates a connection to your well-being."
"You have to separate belief from fact," Dr. Yaster said. "There is belief that my children need to be circumcised but there's also fact: I don't have to do it painfully."
Methods even differ from doctor to doctor. Not every procedure includes a shot to block the pain. Some believe the pain from the shot is as bad as the circumcision itself, so if you decide to circumcise your son, you should ask the doctor or the Mohel how he or she plans to control your baby's pain.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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