No Correlation Between Implants and Breast Cancer

Posted on October 21, 2008
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An Orlando, Florida plastic surgeon wrote on the status of modern breast cancer treatments and the efforts of the medical community to minimize adverse effects through reconstruction and informed prevention.

Dr. Richard Bosshardt writes that social recognition of the breast is an ancient phenomenon and many throughout history have viewed them as symbolic of “femininity and desirability.”  Given this observation, it is easy to understand how the possibility of breast removal or disfigurement can be almost as frightening as the cancer itself.

Most women know how to focus on prevention and are aware of the statistics, but many aren’t informed about the more optimistic developments on the horizon.  Information shared by Dr. Bosshardt in the Orlando Sentinel suggests that family ‘genetic markers’ have become excellent risk indicators, narrowing the search for a definite cause.  Also, he notes that breast implants, bras and high-fat diets have not been shown to have any correlation with breast cancer risk.

Doctors have also begun practicing “breast conservation” rather than outright removal. Reconstruction has become more sophisticated than ever, with patients often looking better as an end result.  The Orlando Sentinel article can be viewed here.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/health/orl-lmed1208oct12,0,250718.story

Stem Cells May Change the Face of Breast Augmentation

Posted on October 21, 2008
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Responding to international demand, a San Diego company by the name of Cytori Therapeutics Inc., has developed a device for combining human body fat with stem cells and other regenerative cells.

Dr. Sydney Coleman, a New York plastic surgeon, was recently published in the medical journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery for his innovative breast augmentation technique, which employs a controversial fat grafting/transplant method. Fat is taken from other areas of the body (just as it is commonly done during liposuction) and added to the breast. The technique hasn’t entirely caught on due to certain risks, such as death of, and calcification of the grafted fat and/or mammogram interference.

The theory behind introducing stem cells to the procedure predicts that the regenerative properties of the cells will help prevent the body’s rejection of transplanted tissue. A stem cell-fortified fat product should promote the formation of new blood vessels, bonding the reintroduced tissue to its surroundings. The results would be nothing short of a natural implant.

Surgeons in Europe and Japan have experimented with techniques and reported success. However, FDA approval of any stem cell product would be required for use in the United States and more research on the long term effects of fat grafting is necessary. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic surgery is recruiting patients for a study. More information on the study is available at ClinicalTrials.gov

Life-Saving Implants: One Woman’s Story of a “Misplaced Heart”

Posted on October 21, 2008
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April Pinkard is not the typical candidate to receive breast implants.  In fact, she probably has very little interest in such a procedure, but surgeons at the Mayo Clinic gave her implants for a very good reason.  Ms. Pinkard’s harrowing story was told to a small Florida newspaper last August.

Because she was was born with a congenital lung disease, one of her lungs had to be removed at the age of four.  She’s lived most of her life with an empty cavity in her chest where that lung had once been.

One day, a medical examination by Dr. Mohammed Choudhury revealed something disturbing.  Mrs. Pinkard said, “he listened [for] my heartbeat one day and it just wasn’t there.”  Upon closer examination, Dr. Choudhury revealed that her heart had been shifting, or “floating”; an unforeseen consequence of her childhood lung removal.  The movement of the heart posed an imminent threat to her life.  It also was making her very sick.  Something had to be done, and right quick.

Textbook solutions to this problem don’t exist.  Mrs. Pinkard is the first to suffer from such a complication.  Her heart was literally mobile and the procedure to correct it would have to possess a certain improvisational character. She describes the risky procedure, saying, “they filled my chest cavity with water and floated it into the correct position.”  To secure the heart in place, surgeons positioned breast implants inside her chest.  Lightheartedly, Pinkard describes the feeling; “you can hear it move.  If I push on my chest you can feel the squishes.”

While Mrs. Pinkard still faces some health related challenges, like a possible lung transplant, she’s a strong willed woman with an incredible attitude.  She strongly asserts, “I don’t allow myself to dwell on pity.  That’s not an acceptable emotion”

Anti Aging: An Ethical Dilemma?

Posted on October 21, 2008
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In New York last summer, at the historic Chautauqua Institution, Bio-ethicist Art Caplan presented a lecture on long life, cosmetic enhancement and how stem cell technology could actually combine both those fields.

Caplan argues for the moral permissibility of enhancement by refuting the arguments of a group he calls “new puritans,” who object to medical advancements on several different grounds. Persons who hold this puritanical view often disapprove of cosmetic treatments.  One person in his audience had spoken of a family member getting a facelift, and a younger woman responded with harsh criticism saying, “that’s terrible.  It’s unbelievable that you would do that, you should simply accept the changes as they come.”

By systematically dismissing each of these objections, Caplan presents his own argument in favor of true anti-aging, based on a theory that we could double the life-span of a human by applying the regenerative properties of stem cells to every part of the body.

In a nutshell, Caplan’s argument for embryonic stem cell research and enhancement is this:  We’ve already doubled our lifespan since ancient times.  There is no “natural order of things” when it comes to how long we should exist or how good we should look during that time.  Stem cell technology need not come from new sources, but embryos that we already use for other purposes. 

What we use to repair disease, we can also use to enhance.  There can be whole body rejuvenation, including the mind, with the help of this technology.  Skin, organs, hair and everything in between can be enhanced with regenerative cells.  Similar things have successfully been done to small organisms.  If we fund it now and conquer these frivolous (and perhaps not so frivolous) arguments, real anti aging can become a reality.

The hour-long lecture can be found in its entirety here on Minnesota Public Radio.

Stem Cells May Hold the Key to Better Breast Implants

Posted on October 3, 2008
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In Japan, a surgeon named Dr. Kotaro Yoshimura has supposedly been performing breast augmentations using fat that has been fortified with stem cells, taken from the patient’s own body. 

Also, a San Diego based company called Cytori Therapeutics has invented a device that produces that biological product of stem cill rich fat - something that would need FDA approval for use in the states.

The reason most fat transplants haven’t been established as a reliable option is the tendency for the transplanted tissue to die post-surgery.  The fat will then calcify and harden. 

What researchers hope is that with the introduction of stem cells, a new blood supply will form and blood vessels will bond with the reintroduced tissue, creating a completely natural implant.

The controversy surrounding stem cell use has largely been focused on the manipulation of human embryos, so the possibility of this procedure being rejected on similar grounds is unlikely.

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