Word: breasted
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Since silicone breast implants were introduced 30 years ago, millions of women have sworn by their results. For most, the ample gel-filled sacs provided a welcome boost in self-esteem. For 1 out of 4 recipients, they brought a return to normality after the trauma of mastectomy. So when anecdotal reports of health problems associated with the devices began cropping up over the past several years, women were first alarmed, then hugely relieved when surgeons asserted that the stories were groundless. Now their confidence has once again been shaken...
...latest information adds weight to several reports about the dangers of silicone gel, a substance also sold as a sealant and Silly Putty. If it stayed inside its envelope, the gel would pose little danger. But doctors have found that over the years it can leak into the surrounding breast tissue. In some cases, especially in poorer-quality implants manufactured between 1975 and 1985, the sacs rupture, spilling their contents into the body. The immune system's attempt to wall off this foreign chemical can cause inflammation and severe chest pain. Worse, the silicone can migrate to the lungs, liver...
...despite the court order, Kessler should have released the new information to the medical community before calling the moratorium. "We're getting hundreds of calls from women who want to know what this new information is, what it means," he said, adding that some women may avoid getting suspicious breast lumps checked for fear that there are no viable options for reconstruction...
...Oxford study was a milestone not only in breast-cancer research but also in the use of a new statistical technique called meta-analysis, which enables researchers to pool data from many studies and compare otherwise incomparable results. The technique was recently used in a major study revealing the benefits of aspirin in treating heart disease. "It is emerging as an important tool in medicine," says Dorr, and one that can be deployed without the considerable costs and risks of a large clinical trial...
MEDICINE For breast-cancer patients, good news about an old drug...