Posted on 12/14/2004 9:49:04 AM PST by Pharmboy
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study adds to evidence that women with cosmetic breast implants have a higher rate of suicide than other women and shows, for the first time, that they may be more likely to have a history of psychiatric illness as well.
Whether the elevated rate of psychiatric conditions explains the higher suicide risk is not clear from the findings. However, the study does give weight to the belief that it's not the cosmetic procedure itself that is behind patients' suicides, according to Dr. Joseph K. McLaughlin, president of the International Epidemiology Institute, a Rockville, Maryland-based research center founded by scientists from the National Cancer Institute.
"There is no evidence that breast implants, per se, increase the risk of suicide," he told Reuters Health.
Mounting evidence indicates that, for whatever reason, there is a "small subset" of breast-implant patients who are at risk of suicide, according to McLaughlin. His team's study adds to past research that has consistently found a two- to three-times higher risk of suicide among women with cosmetic breast implants compared with the general population.
The "new twist" from this study, McLaughlin said, is the additional finding on psychiatric hospital admissions. Compared with women who underwent either breast reduction or other cosmetic procedures, those who received breast implants were 70 percent more likely to have a history of admissions for psychiatric illness.
The findings are published in the current issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
The study included nearly 2,800 Danish women who underwent cosmetic breast-implant surgery between 1973 and 1995, as well as more than 7,000 women who had breast reduction and 1,700-plus women who had other types of cosmetic surgery within the same time period.
The researchers used national records to gather information on the women's death rates and causes of death through 1999, and on their history of hospitalization for psychiatric illness prior to having cosmetic surgery.
Overall, McLaughlin and his colleagues found, 14 women with breast implants committed suicide. While that number is small, it makes for a suicide rate that's three-times higher than the norm, according to the researchers.
In addition, eight percent of the women with breast implants had had a psychiatric hospital admission -- a "hard" measure, McLaughlin noted, that indicates mental illness and not problems such as poor body image. That rate of hospital admission compares with a roughly five-percent rate in each of the two comparison groups.
The researchers also found that women who underwent breast reduction had a higher-than-expected rate of suicide -- a finding McLaughlin called "surprising."
However, he pointed out that this increased risk was "barely significant" in statistical terms, and therefore could be a chance finding.
"It certainly needs further evaluation," McLaughlin said.
On the other hand, he added, the suicide risk among women with breast implants seems to be a solid finding. McLaughlin said that with all the research that has looked into the possible links between breast implants and serious illness, including autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, the only risk that has consistently emerged is the risk of suicide.
"It's unexplained for now," he said.
Still, given the new findings on psychiatric illness, McLaughlin said it may be a good idea for plastic surgeons to "take a closer look" at breast-implant candidates and possibly refer those with signs of a psychiatric problem for evaluation.
The study was funded by the Danish Cancer Society and the International Epidemiology Institute, which received support from the Dow Corning Corporation, once the world's largest maker of silicone gel breast implants. The company no longer makes the implants, having been hit in the 1990s with thousands of lawsuits claiming that the devices caused health problems.
SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, December 13/27, 2004.
Nice try, but let's try some *real* sources, please. From http://www.thebreastsite.com/breast-surgery/breast-implants-statistics.aspx:
According to statistics released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), more than 8.7 million procedures were performed on people to change their appearance by choosing cosmetic plastic surgery in 2003; up 32 percent from nearly 6.6 million in 2002.
This past year's growth may be attributed to the attention plastic surgery received from the entertainment industry, which spotlighted plastic surgery and, perhaps, created a larger interest from the public.
“It's important for the general public to understand, the serious nature of elective cosmetic surgical procedures. At the highest level of care, every surgery has risks as well as benefits,” said ASPS President Rod Rohrich.
Breast Augmentation was in the top five surgical cosmetic plastic surgery procedures in 2003, with just over a quarter million reported.
Women made up 82 percent of those who had cosmetic plastic surgery. Women chose liposuction most often in 2003, followed by breast augmentation.
The number of breast augmentations increased seven percent from 2002 to 2003.
One of the most important steps a person can take in preparation for any cosmetic plastic surgery procedure is to carefully research and select a plastic surgeon certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS). ABPS is the only board recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties to certify a surgeon in plastic surgery of the face and all areas of the body. Careful selection of the plastic surgeon can greatly enhance the possibility of a successful surgical outcome.
///End Quote/////
Now... that's a quarter million breast augmentations in 2002 alone. You still think that a sizeable proportion of them are prostitutes and porn stars?
These are the type of woman who doesn't just look for a cure in a boob job; many have face lifts, tummy tucks, constantly fuss with their hair and make up, are constantly dieting and sometimes can be caught trying to see their reflection in store windows and butter knives.
Feminism and equality were supposed to lessen these behaviors but its only accelerated them in general. We see more bare flesh in public (even on women who are fat), we see more T&A on TV and in movies than ever before. It's almost like a backlash against those old feminist theories like "a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bycicle." Women apparently need men's attention now more than ever. Maybe there's another way to get it, girls.
You GrandFather has them?
Do you live in Kentucky?
"I dated a Flight attendant (I used to love Flight Attendants before I moved on to nurses and then to Professors and then got married...thank god) who had salene implants that looked and felt unbelievably real. If it weren't for the sloshing I would hear at night, I'd never have known they were fake. They hung and moved like the real thing. It was truly unbelievable."
What I really want to know is how come everybody else in the entire freaking world is having fun except me?
Yes, it's like the correlation between drug abuse and mental illness. Dissatisfaction with body image can be healthy (for example, in the case of an obese person); more often, though, it's a sign of deeper instability which can manifest as sucidial tendencies.
Huh? This study emphasizes that the correlation is apparently NOT due to causation.
Yes he was always a big bossumed man and as he got older, they got saggy. No he is as perky as a 17 year old cheerleader!!
All this anti-fake boob talk is really getting me down. I can not believe that so many people get so mad over fake boobs. I think they make everyone; men, women and children happy!
Apart from reconstruction after mastectomy, if a woman thinks her life will be better if she gets bigger breasts, her mental state is already seriously impaired.
LOL
Honestly, I have no idea how I had so much fun and lived to tell. Rock n Roll and a trust fund were good to me. Just wish I still had the trust fund:)
Except "Women apparently need men's attention now more than ever."
Women watch each other. We don't compete in sports, we compete in getting into a size 2, having a better cleavage, better hairstyle, prettier face and in the end, cuter boyfriend. Look at woman's magazines. A man can walk by and not see you, big deal. But let another chick comment on your shoes, and the world is coming to an end! ;)
Might not be the implants, but the type of women who want these implants. And then there are the negative side effects. One couple told their son never to date a girl with facial tatoos, breast implants, or a criminal history.
That's probably a Wonderbra. They do odd things like that to breasts to make them appear bigger.
3x0=0.
We're talking 14 women instead of 5.
I was going to give Kudos to the study for using control groups, but then we find out that I thought of as a control group (breast reduction surgery) also show a higher rate of suicide.
Real headline: Self-mutilation linked to poor mental health.
Wow. There's a shocker.
From casual observation ( no pun intended) I'd wager that at least three times as many women who have breast augmentation are smokers, compared to the general female population. Ergo. smoking causes suicide, right?
Our society has a breast fixation...why do so many of the 8.7 million women you mention ALL want to be D cups?
That's why I wrote the thing about reporters. Reporters are astonishingly good at overlooking such disclaimers, and would run with headlines ("Breast implants linked to suicides, insanity!!!!!!") on the very next day. I don't have a very high opinion of reporters, you see.
>>(1) A large percentage of augmented women are "exotic dancers", prostitutes and porn actresses<<
Don't forget pop stars!
I think the 8.7 million was for all varieties of plastic surgery.
I don't think they all want to be D cups. I know a couple folks who were... um... downright flat chested, and they went up to a C cup, nothing outrageous. I also know some women who got lifts. No big deal.
I just thought it was pretty presumptuous to say that everyone getting such surgery was either a prostitute, an exotic dancer, or a stripper.
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