Word: implantation
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Over one million U.S. women have had silicone breast implant operations, and in light of recent findings by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), they may have cause to worry as well...
...most popular type of implant, a silicone envelope filled with silicone gel, has been linked to silicone associated connective tissue disease, scleroderma, systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis...
...passage of microscopic silicone particles through the envelope is considered the most probable cause of these and other implant-related health problems. These particles lodge in the surrounding breast tissue and in the lymph nodes, from which they are passed throughout the rest of the body...
...plastic surgeons were willing to cough up hundreds of dollars each to finance the ASPRS's campaign to show the bright side of the breast-implant story. Though nearly 2 million micromastia victims have been cured, millions more remain untreated, as shown by the continued existence of the plague's dread symbol -- the A-cup bra. There have been many earnest attempts to reach the untreated: public health-oriented magazines like Playboy, for example, repeatedly print photos illustrating normal breast size for the woman in doubt. Tragically, though, many women still live in denial, concealing their condition under mannish blazers...
...cynic might see the silicone-implant business as another malfeasance on the scale of the Dalkon Shield (which had a tendency to cause devastating infections), DES (which could cause cancer in the user's offspring) or the high-estrogen birth-control pill (which was also rushed to market after hasty and dubious testing). A cynic might point to the medical profession's long habit of exploiting the female body for profit -- from the 19th century custom of removing the ovaries as a cure for "hysteria" to our more recent traditions of unnecessary hysterectomies and caesareans. A cynic might conclude that...