One of the most common birth defects in boys occurs when the urethral tube fails to completely close, leaving the urethral opening somewhere along the underside of the penis, rather than the tip. Approximately one in 200 males is born with the condition, but the cause is usually unknown. It’s been suggested that exposure to pesticides might be the culprit in some cases, but no definitive studies have been done.
A paper from Stanford researchers, which came out today in the journal Pediatrics, presents results of analyses they conducted of several hundred pesticides commonly used in commercial applications. They found weak links with 15 of the chemicals, but emphasize that further studies need to be done before anyone can say there’s a link between any of the chemicals and the condition, called hypospadias. You can read more of the details in our press release.
Causation aside, parents of a baby boy born with the condition have to make decisions about how to treat the condition.
“Any birth defect is concerning to parents, and a defect in the genital structure often causes special concern,” William Kennedy, MD, associate professor of urology at Stanford and associate chief of pediatric urology at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, told me.
Kennedy has been counseling parents and performing corrective surgeries for years and has seen the difficulty parents often have in dealing with the condition.
“Parents are often reluctant to talk to anyone — even medical professionals — about the baby’s condition,” Kennedy added. “Fortunately, most corrective surgeries have positive outcomes.”
Kennedy says a lot of parents first turn to the Internet for information and, as we all know, sometimes what we find there can be misleading. That prompted Kennedy and Suzan Carmichael, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and lead author of the Pediatrics study, to join with Matt Dorow, who has a son born with the condition, to write a book on
the subject for parents.
"Hypospadias – A Guide to Treatment," is a slender volume of just over 100 pages, containing information and guidance on every aspect of hypospadias. The recently published book presents information in a clear, organized fashion and includes short pieces written by a man born with the condition and Dorow. If you have a boy born with hypospadias, or know someone who does, it could be immensely helpful.
