sentences:  Circumcision did not become a common medical procedure in the Anglophone world until the late 19th century.At that time, British and American doctors began recommending it primarily as a deterrent to masturbation.Prior to the 20th century, masturbation was believed to be the cause of a wide range of physical and mental illnesses including epilepsy, paralysis, impotence, gonorrhea, tuberculosis, feeblemindedness, and insanity.