Re: Patty's Toxic Discovery has saved another!

[Guest guest]

Yuo certainly have my blessing!

You might want to share with her the article written by Dr.

Kolb, called Doctor Are YOu LIstening?

Here it is:

http://www.plastikos.com/doctor_listening.htm

Doctor, Are You Listening?

The Silicone Catastrophe

What happens when a new disease is emerging that cannot be

pigeonholed into any existing diagnosis? What is this disease

mimics other diseases but fails to consistently fit into a pattern

or worse yet is variable over time. Sometimes lab tests are normal

and sometimes they are abnormal. What if it takes years to develop

this disease, it is slowly progressive, and the main symptoms are

nonspecific such as fatigue, muscle aches, joint aches, and increase

of susceptibility to infection? Add this to the massive media

campaign and (funding of research) into this disease that has no

intention of defining and studying the disease, but instead is

intent on " disproving " the association of this disease with other

known diseases, and you have a sad state of affairs for the women

who are ill from leaking and/or ruptured silicone breast implants.

Does it make any sense to wonder why these women are ill given the

facts?

Most silicone–filled breast implants leak or rupture within 8-15

years.

The implant companies never intended for silicone to move out of the

breast implant and indeed Dow Corning stated in its brochure that

the implants would " last a lifetime " .

Most series report a significant range of positive bacterial

cultures around leaking and/or ruptured implants.

Women with advanced disease have similar symptoms to the miners who

developed silicosis or silica in the lungs.

The initial epidemiological studies on this illness were flawed and

the National Institute of Health panel has asked that they be

repeated. These are the studies that were so well publicized in

print and media. Of course, we did not hear on television or in the

newspaper that they were found to be flawed and not large enough to

be statistically significant. Another important factor to consider

in any study is that those conducting the studies study women whose

implants are fewer than 5-8 years old. Studying women with intact

implants is like studying smokers of five years or fewer and

concluding that cigarettes have to relationship to lung cancer. I

am sure that the tobacco companies would be happy to contribute

funds for such studies.

So how do you study a new disease? Well, I am not an

epidemiologist, but I am a plastic surgeon who had leaking silicone

gel breast implants and I was able to study the problem over the

four years that I developed the " silicone " related symptoms. Unlike

many of my patients, I had a lot of help recognizing that these

symptoms were silicone related, as I had 150 patients with the same

problems. The symptoms developed in a fairly predicable order and

progressed with time. It is similar to a " toxic " problem in that

the longer the toxin is in the body and the further it spreads (i.e.

dose related) the more the symptoms progressed.

The symptoms often start in the chest wall on the side of the

implant " leak " . There is sometimes a burning sensation or a

nonspecific discomfort that can radiate or travel down the arm. We

see numbness, especially at night, of that arm that later involves

all the extremities. Actual silicate crystals are found in the

nerves, which explains why the disease affects the nerves in

particular.

The other early symptoms are nonspecific-easy fatigue, muscle aches,

and increased susceptibility to infections. Often patients come

into my office for a " check-up " but state that they are having no

medical problems related to their implants. Upon careful

questioning, however, most have increased frequency of viral

infections, sinus problems and yeast infections. Women who would

only get one cold a year cannot seem to shake the viral illnesses

and are sick for a longer period of time with bacterial and yeast

infections as well.

Now one could say that " everyone " has these symptoms from time to

time. What I found was that after four years of progressive

problems, I had an amazing recovery with resolution of my sinus

problems and only one viral illness instead of four this year. The

difference? I had my leaking silicone implants removed in January

of 1997.

Recently I had a patient demand I tell her why her left hand was no

longer swollen and her joints were no longer aching one week after

surgery. She had a leaking silicone breast reconstruction but had,

like so many others, been told by her physician that her hand

swelling and pain was due to arthritis. I had two patients in the

recovery room ask why their shoulder pain with which they had

suffered for four years was gone. Most patients experience an

increased energy level and gradual relief of symptoms as the

silicone is cleared from the body by natural means.

Holistic methods are used to help speed up the detoxification

process. To help support the immune systems, we recommend a

combination of thymic factors and antioxidant vitamins. The patient

is started on these prior to surgery to help reduce complications,

as the majority of these women have depressed immune systems.

Inositol, which is a vitamin that helps increase the amount of

silicate the body eliminates in the urine, is recommended as well.

What are my patients' most frequent frustrations? The patients ask

me, " why did I go to so many doctors only to be told that there was

no relationship between my symptoms and my breast implants? " How

can so many doctors be such experts on this newly-emerging illness

that even the doctors studying the illness at universities are only

beginning to understand? The irony is that the medical community

helped to create this new disease, yet it firmly argues that it does

not exist. Where is the responsibility of the medical community,

not to mention the responsibility of the implant companies who

produced defective products that got infected and made people ill?

Our Hippocratic oath states, " first do no harm " . If harm has

occurred, then why not spend our energy in studying the problem and

finding a solution rather than denying its existence. The medical

community would be well served to respond with more compassion and

understanding. These women are ill. As a physician, if you simply

say that you do not know what is making a patient ill, you are

certainly in a better position later on when their symptoms improve

after removal of the implants, than if you insist there is no

relationship.

Why is this such a critical issue? Studies are showing that the

longer the silicone implants have been leaking and/or ruptured prior

to removal, the less likely the women are to get well. Think of

arsenic-you can recover from a little, but after a long period of

taking arsenic daily, you may not fare so well.

Silicone-related illness is a toxic problem. This is why

toxicologists are now studying the illness. We know that women have

died from the complications of this disease. If you have silicone

implants, show this article to your doctor is he or she is not

listening.

Patty

>

> Good morning ladies,

>

> Yesterday, I was talking to a friend of mine and found out her mom

has implants! I never knew...I always thought it was so unfair that

she was that age and was still so perfectly shaped, and now I know

why! Anyway, her mom had them put in back in 1976. When she got on

the phone to talk to me she was almost in tears. I was able to

share the info I've gotten here and for the first time she felt

validated because her doctors are like everybody elses. She doesn't

do the whole internet thing so she declined the invite to the

group. However, I'd like to ask the seasoned veterans of the

group...if there was ONE article you could share with her which one

would it be? I realize I will get several different answers but

that's what I want. I plan on forwarding the info to her daughter

via email so she can give it to her. And if any body has some words

of encouragement for her, that would be awesome! Her name is

Becky. Somebody can start a post that everyone can add to with the

subject line of " for Becky " . As soon as we get Rogene or Patty to

give us their blessing...

> I also wanted to share a product with everyone that Becky uses and

swears by. I plan to order some myself.

> www.Juvenon.com

> Thank you!

> Christene

>