Word: gel
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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...
Once there, some experts fear, the gel may trigger a variety of autoimmune disorders as the body tries to protect itself from the perceived invader. These include scleroderma, which thickens and stiffens the skin and causes a buildup of fibrous tissue in the lungs and other organs; lupus erythematosus, which causes chronic joint pain and rashes; and rheumatoid arthritis...
...touts Bio-Performance as a "super-revitalizer" that awakens the "skin's youthful balance." Avon is pushing three different antiaging treatments: BioAdvance (with vitamin A), Collagen Booster (vitamin C) and a new product to be introduced next year, Aneu (alpha-hydroxy acids). As for cellulite nostrums, Arden promotes its gel and moisturizer by citing clinical tests "from a renowned university in France." Lancome says its gel can provide "relief" from cellulite in two to four weeks. And Clarins contends that consumers can slim down and firm up with the help of its concentrated anticellulite gel...
...Teens may spend a little too much time on their hair ("Oh, to see Tyler's shampoo, gel and mousse collection!"), but underneath their worldy confidence they share Generation X's concern about the future. Perhaps they can change...