There are push-up bras, padded bras, underwire bras, and let's not forget the latest and greatest invention, water and gel-filled bras that can turn your breasts into James-Bond-style water pistols at the first puncture. The fashion industry supplies any number of ways to keep your boobs perky, pointed, prominent and, above all, BIG.
The relentless trend to make us all look like Barbie dolls - unbalanced and top-heavy - drives a multi-million dollar fashion industry. But a more troubling phenomena is the continuing popularity of surgical breast implants. While the gel-filled bra may transform you from a B cup to a double D without damaging more than your pocket book, surgical breast implants are a much more dangerous proposition.
Between 1.5 and 2 million women currently have breast implants in the United States alone. According to an FDA study, more than half of those who have had silicone implants for 6-10 years, and 80% of those who have had implants for 10-15 years, will experience at least 1 broken implant, and 21% will have their implants migrate to another part of their body. Others still will experience ruptures, leakages and possible health complications, such as fibromyalgia and thyroid disease, that some researchers believe are linked to implant materials.
Nevertheless, more than 200,000 women in the US alone receive implants every year for cosmetic breast augmentation, and 80,000 will get implants for reconstruction (as a result of breast surgery or other medical reasons). And while most women now receive saline, and not silicone, implants, both implants employ silicone as the "envelopes" for the implant material. Not to mention that the saline implants have their own health hazards, including specific types of bacterial infections, according to some research. Studies indicate that implants may also make it difficult to diagnose breast cancer in its earliest stages.
For more information on the dangers associated with surgical breast implants see:
Online Resources:
Books:
- Breast Implants: Everything You Need to Know, Nancy Bruning, Hunter House, 2002
Written by: Kathleen O'Grady
Director of Communications
E-mail: news@cwhn.ca
November 21, 2003
This article first appeared in Taloua (April/May/June 2003), la magazine de la jeune femme.
