part 3

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Subject: Poisoned Breasts - Part 3

5.SILICONE PRODUCES A CLASSIFIABLE NEW DISEASE MARKED BY AUTOIMMUNE SYMPTOMS.

Among physicians willing to credit silicone with toxicological and immunological effects, a variety of names for silicone-induced disease have been proposed: siliconosis, undifferentiated or atypical connective tissue disease, silicone related disease, silicone reactie disorder, silicone disease syndrome, and silicone implant disease (SID).

Typical symptoms associated with silicone include cognitive dysfunction, short-term memory loss, Sjogren's syndrome (dryness in glands, such as the mouth, kidneys, eyes, and lungs), scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis, dermatomyositis, severe joint and muscle pain, incapacitating fatigue, swollen lymph glands, skin problems, peripheral numbness, multiple allergies, headaches, hair loss, sunlight sensitivity, central nervous system disorders (similar to multiple sclerosis), and others.

Among 176 breast implant patients examined by doctors at the Hospital for Joint Disease, Orthopaedic Institute, in New York City, the most requently reported symptoms were chronic fatigue (77%), cognitive dysfunction (65%), severe joint pain (56%), dry mouth (53%), dry eye (50%), hair loss (40%), and difficulty in swallowing (35%). (Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatology 24:1 Suppl 1 [August 1994], 29-37.)

A study of 50 women with implants revealed that 89% complained of fatigue, 75% of generalized stiffness, 71% of poor sleep, and 78% of joint pain. Positive ANAs were found in 38% of these patients. (Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatology 24:1 Suppl 1 [August 1994], 44- 53.)

A study of 56 women with silicone implants and scleroderma (skin thickening which damages tissues) revealed that scleroderma symptoms developed an average of nine years after implantation. Of these, 77% also had Raynaud's phenomenon (extreme skin pallor and coldness in hands and feet), 53% had swallowing difficulties, 47% had lung problems, and 83% had antinuclear antibodies. (Current Topics in Microbiological Immunology 210 [1996], 283-290.)

Doctors at the CompreCare Clinic in Houston, Texas, found that 26 women developed a systemic disease with central nervous system involvement (resembling multiple sclerosis) an average of 5.7 years after receiving silicone implants. (Southern Medical Journal 89:2 [February 1996], 179-88.)

Doctors at the Louisiana State University Medical Center at New Orleans examined 300 women (average age, 44) with silicone implants and musculoskeletal complaints. The symptoms developed an average of 6.8 years after receiving the implants; 83% had symptoms "highy suggestive of an underlying connective tissue disorder," and 54% met the criteria for a fibromyalgia (chronic muscle pain) diagnosis. (Clinical Rheumatology 14:6 [November 1995], 667-672.)

According to R. Shanklin, M.D., and L. Smalley, M.D., both professors of pathology at the University of Tennessee at Memphis, "there is little if any difference between the effects of direct injection [of silicone] and the effects of gel-filled devices [implants]."

In either case, the human body reacts to the presence of this "alien substance" by forming granulomas which then produce a chronic inflammation. Direct injection of silicone into the breast for enlargement was outlawed because it produced serious, toxic effects in women; it is "illogical," state Drs. Shanklin and Smalley, that this practice is still permitted via ruptured leaking implants. (Science and Medicine 3:5 [september/October 1996], 22-31.)

6. SILICONE-ASSOCIATED SYMPTOMS GO AWAY WHEN IMPLANTS ARE REMOVED.

Doctors at the University of Alabama at Birmingham observed that 103 of 142 women attributed a variety of symptoms to their implants and that 50% of these women reported improvement in their health problems when the implants were removed. (ls of Plastic Surgery 34:1 [January 1995], 1-6.)

Of 33 women who underwent implant removal (average age, 44) 24 experienced significant improvement in numerous silicone-associated symptoms within 22 months. (Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatology 24:1 Suppl 1 [August 1994], 22-28.)

Among 300 women with implants and musculoskeletal complaints, 70% who underwent implant removal reported "improvement in their systemic symptomatology" (Clinical Rheumatology 14:6 [November 1995], 667-672.)

Dermatologists at the Medical University of South Carolina at ton report that when a woman, 46, with scleroderma had her implants removed, "the scleroderma gradually resolved." (Archives of Dermatology 126:9 [september 1990], 1198-1202.)

Doctors at the University of California, School of Medicine report that for a woman with debilitating multisystem sarcoidosis (multiorgan granulomas), "her clinical condition dramatically improved," after her silicone implants were removed. (International Archives of Allergy and Immunology 105:4 [December 1994], 404-407.)

Canadian researchers polled 100 women for health changes they experienced after having their silicone implants removed (mean age, 41) after having had the implants for a mean of 12 years. After an average of 2.7 years, 45% of 75 women in this group (those who had lost nipple sensitivity) believed, in retrospect, their implants had caused permanent health problems and 43% were suing the implant manufacturers.

Those women who had no previous signs of autoimmune symptoms responded "most favorably to explantation" as 80% reported "major improvement" in their symptoms and 93% said they had a "significantly improved psychological well-being." (ls of Plastic Surgery 39:1 [1997], 9-19.)

Surely there is enough evidence to support the case that silicone breast implants pose a serious potential health threat, if not for every woman, at least for many. Isn't it therefore prudent to side with caution having the implants removed and residual silicone detoxified from the body if the health ramifications of a procedure are that uncertain?