October 9, 2008 | Health Matters

To snip or not to snip

You've probably heard that uncut men are more likely to get HIV through sex than are circumcised guys. But before you decide to remove that sexy foreskin take note: a new study indicates gay men are afforded little extra protection, if any.

The report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did find that men with cut cocks seem to benefit from a reduction of between 50 and 60 percent in female-to-male transmission of the AIDS virus. But for men having sex with men there was little difference in infection rates.

The researchers based their conclusions on a review of 15 studies involving 53,567 gay and bisexual men in eight countries, including the United States, where nearly half of the 1.1 million people infected with the AIDS virus are men who have sex with men.

"Over all, we’re not finding a protective effect associated with circumcision for gay and bisexual men,” said Gregorio A. Millett,  the lead author of the report published this week in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

So embrace your uncut schlongs, friends!