Web site busts the breast-implant fantasy

[Guest guest]

BRAVO!

http://www.annickpress.com/ai/graydon.html

wants to draw attention to the underreported health consequences of

breast implants.

Go on-line and sign up for the Plastic Assets credit card and you'll

be rewarded with a free set of breast implants. " Invest in your

breasts! " shouts the Web site (

http://www.pantyraiders.org/plasticassets/ ).

Besides having bigger, better boobs, every time you use the card

you'll earn bonus points that can be put toward procedures like tummy

tucks or liposuction. Head to the Apply Now section and up pops a

hot-pink banner that reads: " DECEPTION! comes in many forms... Click

here for what they don't tell you about breast implants. " Yes, the

Plastic Assets site is a hoax, one conjured up by Ottawa-based

journalist and media critic Shari Graydon. With the help of New

York–based Web designers Marsh and Leba Haber Rubinoff (who

call

themselves the Panty Raiders), Graydon set out to draw attention to

the " devastating impact " of implants, consequences she says plastic

surgeons minimize and news outlets largely ignore. Graydon—who was in

Vancouver on May 11 to give a public presentation about Plastic

Assets—says she was surprised that so many people failed to catch

onto

the project's phoniness.

" I thought there were enough clues that most critically minded people

would be able to figure it out, " Graydon told the Straight by phone,

pointing to giveaways like the Bank of National Credit, which doesn't

exist, and the testimonial of a fictitious father saying he knows the

" power breasts can have " and wanted his daughter to have the best

body

possible before heading off to Yale.

" Even after people filled out the application and couldn't get it to

submit, we had about 60 women contact us by e-mail who were

desperate,

saying, `Help; why can't I sign up?'….Many of the women were

college-educated, professionals, women doing grad work.

" The response says so much about the world we live in, " she added.

Other reactions troubled Graydon.

Many journalists, for instance, didn't realize the site was bogus,

said Graydon, who also speaks about media literacy. And when

reporters

discovered that its purpose was to expose the underreported health

impacts of breast implants, most were no longer interested in

pursuing

the story.

The list of those potential health consequences is extensive.

According to Health Canada, scar tissue surrounding the implant can

harden and cause severe pain or sensitivity. Breast cancer can be

more

difficult to detect in women with implants than in those without.

Implants may interfere with the ability to produce breast milk or to

breast-feed. Because implants have to be replaced every seven to 15

years, multiple operations can cause irreversible damage, like

dimpling or wrinkling.

A study published in the December 2001 issue of Epidemiology found

that women with breast implants were more likely to die from brain

tumours, lung cancer, and suicide compared with other plastic-surgery

patients.

In her 2003 study for the British Columbia Centre of Excellence for

Women's Health—called Health Care Utilization Among Women Who Have

Undergone Breast Implant Surgery—Aleina Tweed pointed to the risks

that accompany any surgery, such as infection, hemorrhage, and

thrombosis. Then there are local complications, like implant

deflation, leakage, and rupture, as well as nipple discharge.

Although

a causal link hasn't been proven, there are possible systemic

problems, including fibromyalgialike disorders, auto- immune

diseases,

and chronic respiratory problems. Her research found that women with

implants were more than four times as likely to be hospitalized as

those without.

The Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons (

www.plasticsurgery.ca/) notes on its Web site that in general, the

larger the implant the greater the risk of complications. Proponents

of breast implants say that women who are pleased with the results

have better self-esteem and improved quality of life. Women say they

feel sexier, happier, and more confident than before.

According to Tweed's study, about 80 percent of breast-implant

surgeries are done for cosmetic reasons. In B.C., approximately

25,000

women have had the operation. The procedure isn't covered by

provincial health insurance except when reconstruction follows a

mastectomy. The cost of augmentation is anywhere from $4,000 to

$6,000, according to Graydon, and replacement or removal costs more.

Health-insurance companies don't pay to take out implants, even if

they are leaking or deflated.

Only saline-filled implants are licensed for sale in Canada, but

women

can get the silicone gel–filled ones by applying to Health Canada's

medical-devices bureau. Saline implants (which are in a silicone bag)

have never been reviewed for safety by Health Canada. They were

introduced before 1982, when the federal body amended regulations

requiring manufacturers to provide evidence that the devices are

safe.

Health Canada is currently reviewing applications by two California

companies to sell silicone gel–filled implants in this country. In

September, the federal organization gathered an expert panel to get

input from manufacturers, consumers, and the public.

Among the panel's recommendations was that surgeons be able to

identify patients with body-dysmorphic disorder, an obsessive

preoccupation with a perceived physical flaw that impairs daily

functioning. Such women, as well as those with eating disorders or

clinical depression, should seek psychiatric treatment and postpone

surgery.

With so many potential problems that come with cosmetic augmentation,

many women's groups are still calling on the federal government to

establish a national registry that would enable health officials to

contact people whose implants may pose a health risk and allow

researchers to study the long-term effects of implants. Legislation

to

do so was introduced by the federal New Democrats in 2004 but got

scrapped with the last election.

Graydon, meanwhile, stressed that she doesn't judge women who opt to

have implants, but she does want them to make an educated decision.

" It's nice to feel attractive. The problem is we have increasingly

distorted notions of what is sexy, what is desirable, " she explained,

adding that she remembers a conversation she had with a woman who had

had implants. " She said, `I don't want to look like Pamela .

I

just want to look normal.' Normal now includes foreign objects being

implanted in our chest cavity. "

SOURCE-

http://www.straight.com/content.cfm?id=17843

Linked at:

www.BreastImplantAwareness.org

..