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From: " Ilena Rose " <ilena@...>

Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2001 10:10 AM

Subject: Government Studies Link Breast Implants to Cancer, Lung Diseases,

and Suicide

http://www.cpr4womenandfamilies.org/implantgovstdy.html

Ý

Government Studies Link Breast Implants to Cancer, Lung Diseases, and

Suicide

By Zuckerman, Ph.D. and Flynn, MPH

Two major new studies raise questions about the long-term safety of breast

implants. A team of researchers led by Louise Brinton, Ph.D., of the

National Cancer Institute (NCI) recently published these studies on the

long-term health effects of breast implants. One of the studies found that

women with breast implants are more likely to die from brain tumors, lung

cancer, other respiratory diseases, and suicide compared to other plastic

surgery patients. The other study found a 21% overall increased risk of

cancer for women with implants, compared to women of the same age in the

general population.

These studies are the first to look at all types of cancer and all causes

of death among breast implant patients. While the authors were not able to

determine whether implants caused these illnesses, the results show a

doubling of brain cancer and a tripling of lung cancer, emphysema, and

pneumonia for women with implants. Even though these findings were

described as " unexpected, " they are consistent with previous research that

shows brain abnormalities and lung problems related to breast implants.

There was also a four-fold increase in suicide for breast implant

patients, which seems to contradict the manufacturers¼ assertion that

implants improve a woman¼s feeling of self-worth.

Why are these results so different from widely reported claims that breast

implants do not cause any diseases? One reason may be that the women

included in the studies all had implants for at least eight years.

Previous research included women who had only had breast implants for a

year or two, or even a few months. Therefore, these new studies are the

first examine the long-term health effects of breast implants.

Unfortunately, even though diseases may take much longer than 8 years to

develop and be diagnosed, the findings from these well-designed studies

indicate a potentially serious risk for the health of women with breast

implants.

Another possible reason for this difference is that plastic surgeons and

the implant manufacturers helped design and fund much of the previous

research on implants; these groups have a tremendous financial stake --

billions of dollars -- in the outcome. Perhaps that is why so many

previous studies focused on just a few, rare diseases, rather than a more

comprehensive evaluation of the women¼s health.

Study Design

The comprehensive studies started with the same group of nearly 13,500

women from 6 different geographical regions in the U.S. Information was

gathered from patient questionnaires and medical records. Both studies

compared women with implants to women who underwent other forms of plastic

surgery as well as the general population of women the same age. In

general women with implants were healthier than women in the general

population, but less healthy than other plastic surgery patients. The

latter is a more appropriate comparison because all plastic surgery

patients tend to be more affluent than the general population, and more

affluent women tend to live longer.

More Research Needed

More independent research, funded by the federal government, is needed to

determine why breast implants are linked to cancer and other fatal

diseases in these new studies. In addition, these two studies need to be

continued to see whether the results change as the women (and their

implants) age. Since approximately 2 million women in the United States

already have breast implants and another 300,000 are planning on getting

them this year, research on the long-term health effects is long overdue.

The new studies are:

Brinton, LA, Lubin, JH, Burich, MC, Colton, T, and Hoover, RN. Mortality

Among Augmentation Mammoplasty Patients, Epidemiology 2001; 12: 321-326.

Brinton, LA, Lubin, JH, Burich, MC, Colton, T, Brown, SL, and Hoover, RN.

Cancer Risk at Sites Other Than the Breast Following Augmentation

Mammoplasty. ls of Epidemiology 2001;11: 248-256.

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