FDA Reports Concerns about Breast Implants

The benefits of having breast implants are obvious: larger and shapelier breasts. Right?

Not so fast, there are also definite disadvantages to consider before deciding which method of breast enlargement is best for you. The FDA (food and drug administration) reports just what to look out for when considering breast implants.

Leakage

Leakage is also a concern. Approximately 25% of women have silicone leaking outside their scar tissue capsules, and silicone seepage increases over time. When this happens, many women will report breast hardness, fatigue and other auto-immune symptoms.

Other concerns include painful hardening of the breast, dying breast tissue, changes in nipple sensation, and other complaints.

Rupture

The FDA estimates. Implants, as do other products, are more likely to break as they get older. It's reported that 75% of implanted women will have at least one ruptured implant within a decade of receiving the devices.

The break down is as follows; 93% of breast cancer reconstruction patients should expect to have at least one broken implant, 38% of augmentation patients, and 66% of women will replace previous breast implants with new ones.

Long-Term Safety

National Cancer Institute reports that women with implants were twice as likely to die of brain cancer, three times as likely to die of lung cancer, and four times as likely to commit suicide, compared to other plastic surgery patients.

FDA scientists have found that women with extra capsular silicone leakage were significantly more likely to be  diagnosis for painful and debilitating diseases such as fibromyalgia.

A Canadian study reports women with breast augmentation are more likely to be hospitalized compared to other women of the same age in the same communities.

Mammography

Breast implants interfere with the detection of breast cancer. A study published in the January 2004 of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that mammograms missed 55% of breast cancers in women with breast implants, compared to 33% in women without implants.

Toxic Chemicals

In the Annals of Bioanalytic Chemistry it's reported that alarmingly high levels of a dangerous form of platinum (a toxic chemical) can be found in children born to women with breast implants.