- Breast Implants: A Research and Regulatory Summary – As debate swirls over the risks of breast implants, physicians and patients are justifiably confused by the conflicting information available. This summary provides information about what is known and not known about the risks of breast implants.
- Breast Implants, Self-Esteem, Quality of Life, and the Risk of Suicide – Breast augmentation is the most common cosmetic surgery in the US, but studies have shown that suicide rates are higher for women with implants.
- Next Steps for Breast Implant–Associated Anaplastic Large-Cell Lymphoma – In a letter to the Editor of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Mazzuco details the research available on breast implant associated ALCL and explains that future studies are needed to elucidate what factors determine whether specific types of breast implants are more likely to increase the risk of ALCL, particularly solid tumors.
- Public Health Implications of Differences in US and European Union Regulatory Policies for Breast Implants – Tens of thousands of defective silicone breast implants were recalled in Europe in 2011–12 soon after the FDA’s unrelated announcement that a rare cancer of the immune system was associated with all saline and silicone gel breast implants.
- Adolescents, Celebrity Worship, and Cosmetic Surgery – In 2010 researchers published a study showing that media portrayal of celebrities influences adolescents decisions to undergo cosmetic surgery. The researchers found that the adolescent women and men who showed intense “celebrity worship” were more likely to undergo elective invasive cosmetic procedures, even after controlling for other known predictors of cosmetic surgery, such as low self-esteem, greater preoccupation with body image, and previous cosmetic surgery.
- Reasonably Safe? Breast Implants and Informed Consent – Every year, more than 300,000 women in the United States and many more worldwide undergo breast implant surgery. This article, published in an international journal for medical professionals and health policy experts, considers the risks and benefits of implants.
- Teens and Breast Augmentation – Two of the most popular and controversial cosmetic procedures for adolescents are liposuction and breast implants. This review article discusses the procedures and the physiological and psychological reasons to delay these procedures in adolescents, including concerns about body dysmorphic disorder and research findings regarding changes in teenagers’ body image as they mature.
- The Need to Improve Informed Consent for Breast Cancer Patients – Many of the more than 182,000 women who will be newly diagnosed with breast cancer this year will not have access to all the information they need to make the surgical and treatment choices that are most appropriate for them. Research clearly shows that lumpectomy and other breast-conserving surgeries are just as safe as mastectomy for most women with early stage disease, and yet approximately half will undergo the more disfiguring procedures. This paper delineates how limited information and biased recommendations can undermine breast cancer patients’ ability to make informed choices.
- Reconstructive Breast Implantation After Mastectomy – This commentary provides a summary of the research that shows higher complication rates among women who receive reconstruction using breast implants following mastectomies.
- Teenagers and Cosmetic Surgery – Here are two articles in medical journals about the psychological and ethical issues for teenagers considering plastic surgery.
- Safety of Breastfeeding with Silicone Breast Implants – In a letter to the Editor of Pediatrics, Lee and Zuckerman address the numerous benefits on nursing infants that breastfeeding confers. However, they argue that the safety of breastfeeding by women with silicone breast implants has not been adequately studied — a fact these women should be told. They urge the American Academy of Pediatrics to revise their policy statement to acknowledge the lack of safety data.
- The Second Coming of Breast Implants – More than 120,000 American women, many of them in their teens and early 20s, underwent surgery for breast implants last year. After years of controversy had cooled enthusiasm for implants, more women are choosing them than ever before.