| Ilena Rose 2004-12-16, 9:23 am |
| BMJ 2003;326:1266 (7 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7401.1266-a
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Letter
Mortality in Swedish women with cosmetic breast implants
Study found increased risk of suicides and cancer deaths
EDITOR—The increased suicides and lung cancers among implant patients
reported by Koot et al is consistent with a study by Brinton et al at
the US National Cancer Institute.1 2 However, Brinton et al found an
increased risk of suicides and cancer deaths compared with other
patients having plastic surgery.
If plastic surgery patients have more psychological problems than the
general population, as Koot suggests, that would not explain the
difference between suicide rates of breast augmentation patients
compared with other plastic surgery patients. There are other, more
likely explanations. Notably, unlike most other plastic surgery
patients, implant patients suffer from well documented complications
such as chronic pain and implant breakage that increase in likelihood
every year. Our centre receives letters every week from women whose
implants are broken and who cannot afford explant surgery. Many of
these women are quite desperate, especially when silicone is migrating
to other organs or causing pain or deformities. Even in countries with
national health care, these problems can be difficult to remedy and
could potentially cause an increase in suicides.
A flaw of the Koot et al study is that it included women who had
breast implants for less than one year, which weakens the statistical
power. In contrast, the Brinton et al study included women who had
breast implants for at least eight years and found increases in deaths
from suicide, lung cancer, and brain cancer compared with plastic
surgery patients who reported similar smoking and lifestyle habits.
Diana Zuckerman, president
National Center for Policy Research for Women and Families, 1901
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Suite 901, Washington, DC 20006, 202 223-4000,
USA dz@center4policy.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Competing interests: None declared.
References
Koot VCM, Peters PHM, Granath F, Grobbee DE, Nyren O. Total and cause
specific mortality among Swedish women with cosmetic breast implants:
prospective study. BMJ 2003;326: 527-8. (8 March.)[Free Full Text]
Brinton LA, Lubin JH, Burich MC, Colton T, Hoover RN. Mortality among
augmentation mammoplasty patients. Epidemiology 2001;12:
321-6.[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
BMJ 2003;326:1266 (7 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7401.1266-a
Extract of this article
Email this article to a friend
Respond to this article
Read responses to this article
Other related articles in BMJ
PubMed citation
Related articles in PubMed
Download to Citation Manager
Search Medline for articles by:
Zuckerman, D.
Alert me when:
New articles cite this article
Letter
Mortality in Swedish women with cosmetic breast implants
Study found increased risk of suicides and cancer deaths
EDITOR—The increased suicides and lung cancers among implant patients
reported by Koot et al is consistent with a study by Brinton et al at
the US National Cancer Institute.1 2 However, Brinton et al found an
increased risk of suicides and cancer deaths compared with other
patients having plastic surgery.
If plastic surgery patients have more psychological problems than the
general population, as Koot suggests, that would not explain the
difference between suicide rates of breast augmentation patients
compared with other plastic surgery patients. There are other, more
likely explanations. Notably, unlike most other plastic surgery
patients, implant patients suffer from well documented complications
such as chronic pain and implant breakage that increase in likelihood
every year. Our centre receives letters every week from women whose
implants are broken and who cannot afford explant surgery. Many of
these women are quite desperate, especially when silicone is migrating
to other organs or causing pain or deformities. Even in countries with
national health care, these problems can be difficult to remedy and
could potentially cause an increase in suicides.
A flaw of the Koot et al study is that it included women who had
breast implants for less than one year, which weakens the statistical
power. In contrast, the Brinton et al study included women who had
breast implants for at least eight years and found increases in deaths
from suicide, lung cancer, and brain cancer compared with plastic
surgery patients who reported similar smoking and lifestyle habits.
Diana Zuckerman, president
National Center for Policy Research for Women and Families, 1901
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Suite 901, Washington, DC 20006, 202 223-4000,
USA dz@center4policy.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Competing interests: None declared.
References
Koot VCM, Peters PHM, Granath F, Grobbee DE, Nyren O. Total and cause
specific mortality among Swedish women with cosmetic breast implants:
prospective study. BMJ 2003;326: 527-8. (8 March.)[Free Full Text]
Brinton LA, Lubin JH, Burich MC, Colton T, Hoover RN. Mortality among
augmentation mammoplasty patients. Epidemiology 2001;12:
321-6.[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
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