Is it real?
Breast implant illness (BII), as the name implies, is disease that occurs in the body because of the presence of breast implants. The majority of journalistic pieces on BII tend to include a clause that says something like, "BII is not yet recognised in the medical world or by the FDA as a real disease." I would like to take everyone reading this on two different roads that can help reach a conclusion as to whether BII is real or not. The first path is looking at the history of the medical field, in terms of medical mistakes, disasters and of a disruption in the accepted beliefs of the general medical world. The second path will be a presentation of all the current evidence for BII. Hopefully, this will help people in need of finding this information to make the critical decisions that will impact the rest of their lives.
Medical world in retrospect
The initial problem that a person with breast implants is faced with when first coming across BII, is that most doctors the person might visit are prone to reject the idea that breast implants can be the cause of any health problems. I have indeed heard of some doctors admitting that people tend to feel better after having the implants removed, but they also say that it does not necessarily prove anything meaningful.
While pondering this problem, I remembered a topic that I was very accustomed to during my nursing studies. It is called evidence-based practice (EBP). EBP is a gold-standard in the medical world, the pinnacle of each field of specialty. It refers to providing the absolute best care that is proven to be the absolute best by serious research. The challenge presented though, is the amount of time it takes before the evidence (research) becomes practice (hands-on treatment). To be more specific, it can take 17 years before new research is implemented.
17 years is a long time to wait and sometimes, the medical world continues to follow practices that are not in the best interest of the patients, despite the existing research showing the need for change. For many people with BII, 17 years might be too long to wait for doctors to start agreeing that their breast implants might play a part in their deteriorating health.
My other point is that everyone needs to remember that doctors are human, too. There is a myriad of problems in the medical industry. One pertinent and frightening example of this is that preventable medical mistakes are the third leading cause of death in the United States. The conclusion of this study states:
"All evidence points to the need for much more patient involvement in identifying harmful events and participating in rigorous follow-up investigations to identify root causes... Hospitals are simply not going to heal without attentive, systematic listening to those harmed patients or their survivors."
With this in mind, I would like to respectfully address a trend that is prevalent with health care providers (HCPs), then one amongst "laypeople", or rather, those with no tertiary training in the healthcare field.
HCPs often get annoyed and offended when a patient comes to them with some form of self-research ("I went on Google"), questioning the HCP's decisions. They sometimes under-inform their patients and don't adequately explain what is on a prescription. There is an impression that HCPs see themselves as superior to their patients.
The tendency among patients is that they surrender the responsibility for their health to their HCPs. They see HCPs as infallible and all-knowing, and take what they say as the final word. There is an impression that patients see themselves as inferior to their HCPs.
These mindsets set people up for a lot of avoidable medical disasters (as we can see in the above study). I want to mention some medical mistakes, detrimental practices and seemingly unavoidable tragedies that I hope will bring a sobering realisation to HCPs and their patients alike. The aim is not to discount the medical world, but to put everything into perspective. HCPs, do not disregard the patients' right to knowledge. Patients, do not be disillusioned by the status of HCPs, and take responsibility for your health.
Another very important point is that doctors have an extremely high-stress occupation, very often with unreasonable expectations placed upon them in terms of work hours and patient quotas. Patients should let go of the unrealistic expectations that they have regarding the standard of perfection that they hold their HCPs to. Saying things like, "I would just listen to the doctor, they always know best," and "Your doctor always has your best interest in mind" are absolute statements and place unnecessary burdens on HCPs.
In 1991, the famous artist Andy Warhol died from neglectful fluid overload in the hospital:
https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/05/nyregion/care-faulted-in-the-death-of-warhol.html
X-rays were used from the 1920's to mid 1970's to visualise the babies and pelvic structure of pregnant women. In the 1950's, research started showing that obstetric x-rays were linked to miscarriage, microcephaly, leukemia and other malignancies in babies. It took more than 20 years of published studies and constant warnings about the dangers of X-rays in pregnancy for the practice to fall out of use:
https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/full/10.1148/radiol.14140238
Babies used to undergo surgery without pain medication up until the 1980's, because it was believed that babies couldn't feel pain:
http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2015-04-21-babies-feel-pain-adults#
Pregnant women in the late 1950's and early 60's were freely given thalidomide to treat morning sickness. What followed was one of the biggest man-made medical disasters, as thalidomide caused an increase in miscarriages and severe birth deformities affecting multiple body systems, most notably phocomelia, grossly underdeveloped or absent limbs:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4737249/
Pursposefully adulterated heparin from China killed 85 people and left nearly 800 seriously injured in 2008; in 2016, another Chinese heparin manufacturer was involved in falsification and Good Manufacturing Practice non-compliance:
https://www.gmp-compliance.org/gmp-news/chinese-heparin-manufacturer-again-involved-in-falsification-and-gmp-non-compliance
The pharmaceutical company, Merck, released Vioxx as a treatment for pain related to arthritis, dysmenorrhoea and other general painful conditions, despite its own scientists expressing concern over its adverse effects on the cardiovascular system. Merck purposefully withheld information from doctors about Vioxx's risks and even intimidated and pressured doctors who were questioning Vioxx's safety. After about 140,000 serious cardiovascular incidents (including strokes and heart attacks), the drug was recalled in 2004:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1779871/
In 2012, 64 patients died from fungal meningitis and more than 700 others suffered from this infection due to a steroid injection (commonly used to treat arthritis pain and severe allergic reactions) that had been improperly sterilised by the manufacturer. The pharmacist involved purposefully covered up the contamination and shipped the medication anyways:
https://www.fda.gov/ICECI/CriminalInvestigations/ucm594800.htm
In 2007, cough syrup in Panama was unknowingly mixed with diethylene glycol (used in antifreeze) instead of glycerine (seemingly purposefully mislabeled by manufacturers in China). Diethylene glycol causes organ failure and can lead to death, even in very small doses. This led to the poisoning of hundreds of children, with families claiming 365 deaths and 100 deaths confirmed. Similar events have occured in Bangladesh, India, Argentina, Nigeria and Haiti:
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/world/americas/06poison.html
In 2003, a girl accidentally received an incompatible heart and lung transplant with the wrong blood type, leading to her death:
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/81975795.pdf
Lastly, a very relevant example from 2011, French breast implant manufacturers used industrial-grade instead of medical-grade silicone for their breast implants. The industrial-grade silicone implants were much cheaper and were known to have high amounts of contaminants. People who received these implants were exhorted to get them removed, with concerns over inflammation and cancer:
https://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/27/world/europe/pip-breast-implant-scandal-explained/index.html
These are just a handful of examples amongst thousands of stories. I want to reiterate that I am not saying the medical world is bad and we should stay away from it. The solution to breast implant illness is to have an explant (the surgical removal of the implants), and for that you would need a team of HCPs. The point I want to make is that if a person goes to a HCP and says, "I think my breast implants are making me sick," the reaction from the HCP should not be, "Of course not, that is ridiculous." For people who have heard that from HCPs, the examples that I have highlighted should provide enough reasons to help them realise that the word of a HCP is not always right, true or founded in research. Again, I'm not saying that this is the case with all HCPs, all the time.
The evidence for BII
I first came across the concept of BII on social media in 2016, specifically Facebook. I was made aware by a close family member of a woman asking what her best options were for making her breasts look like they used to before her first pregnancy, more than 12 years prior to her post. This family member mentioned me in the comments of a handful of women saying to stay away from breast implants and linking a few other Facebook groups dedicated to BII. One of these groups has over 60,000 members and is filled with personal testimonies and experiences linked to severe systemic illness that practically resolved after having their implants removed.
There is a growing body of research showing that these testimonies are not made up or merely a placebo effect.
My succinct summary of the research is as follows:
Silicone implants bleed silicone into the body and act as a constant stimulant to the immune system. There are several ingredients other than silicone, in these implants, many of which are believed to cause toxicity in the body, leading to endocrine disruption, toxicity and malignancy.
Saline implants are encased in a silicone shell, so they present with similar problems as silicone implants. Saline solutions' sterility is known to expire, especially when stored under unfavourable conditions (think warm, dark, wet environment; also the sterility is compromised by constant pressure from, for example, hugs, sleeping on the stomach, falls, car accidents, mammograms, and can lead the faults in the valve) and the solution starts to harbour harmful microorganisms that form a microfilm and lead to biotoxicity.
The symptoms of BII are extensive, and that is because the entire body, with the majority of its systems, is compromised by the breast implants.
BII symptoms from https://healingbreastimplantillness.com/breast-implant-symptoms/:
FATIGUE
BRAIN FOG, MEMORY LOSS
MUSCLE AND JOINT PAIN
HAIR LOSS, DRY SKIN AND HAIR
PREMATURE AGING
WEIGHT PROBLEMS
INFLAMMATION
POOR SLEEP AND INSOMNIA
DRY EYES, DECLINE IN VISION
HYPO/HYPER THYROID SYMPTOMS
HYPO/HYPER ADRENAL SYMPTOMS
PARATHYROID PROBLEMS
HORMONE IMBALANCE, DIMINISHING HORMONES, EARLY MENOPAUSE
HYSTERECTOMY
LOW LIBIDO
SLOW HEALING, EASY BRUISING
THROAT CLEARING, COUGH, DIFFICULTY SWALLOWING, CHOKING, REFLUX, METALLIC TASTES
VERTIGO
GASTROINTESTINAL ISSUES SUCH AS ACID REFLUX, GERD, GASTRITIS
LEAKY GUT, IBS AND SIBO
PANCREATITIS
FEVERS, NIGHT SWEATS, INTOLERANT TO HEAT/COLD
PERSISTENT BACTERIAL, VIRAL, FUNGAL INFECTIONS
YEAST INFECTIONS, CANDIDA, SINUS AND UTI INFECTIONS
SKIN RASHES
EAR RINGING
SUDDEN FOOD INTOLERANCE AND ALLERGIES
HEADACHES, MIGRAINES AND OCULAR MIGRAINES
SLOW MUSCLE RECOVERY AFTER ACTIVITY
HEART PALPITATIONS, CHANGES IN NORMAL HEART RATE OR HEART PAIN
SORE AND ACHING JOINTS OF SHOULDERS, HIPS, BACKBONE, HANDS AND FEET
SWOLLEN AND TENDER LYMPH NODES IN BREAST AREA, UNDERARM, THROAT, NECK, GROIN
DEHYDRATION FOR NO REASON
FREQUENT URINATION
NUMBNESS/TINGLING SENSATION IN UPPER AND LOWER LIMBS
COLD AND DISCOLORED LIMBS, HANDS AND FEET
GENERAL CHEST DISCOMFORT SHORTNESS OF BREATH
PAIN AND OR BURNING SENSATION AROUND IMPLANT AND OR UNDERARM
LIVER AND KIDNEY DYSFUNCTION
GALLBLADDER PROBLEMS
TOXIC SHOCK SYMPTOMS
ANXIETY, DEPRESSION AND PANIC ATTACKS
FEELING LIKE YOU ARE DYING
SYMPTOMS OF FIBROMYALGIA
SYMPTOMS OF LYME DISEASE
SYMPTOMS OF EBV
SYMPTOMS OF AUTO-IMMUNE DISEASES SUCH AS; RAYNAUD’S SYNDROME, HASHIMOTO’S THYROIDITIS, RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS, SCLERODERMA, LUPUS, SJOGREN’S SYNDROME, NONSPECIFIC CONNECTIVE TISSUE DISEASE, MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
SYMPTOMS OF BIA-ALCL LYMPHOMA
DIAGNOSIS OF CANCER
I felt that I didn't need to mention the fact breast implants are well-known and accepted to not be life-time device, and that the recommendation is to get them replaced every 7-10 years. But here I go. The longer the implants stay in, the rate of complications increases.
Here are studies about the effects of breast implants on the body.
This study looked at participants with autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants (ASIA) due to silicone implants. The participants had symptoms that included fatigue, muscle and joint pain, cognitive dysfunction, fever and dry eyes and mouths. The study concluded that there is limited evidence that silicone breast implants are safe:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12026-016-8821-y
Silicone-filled breast implants may increase the risk of developing (auto) immune diseases and immune deficiencies:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12026-013-8401-3
There is increasing evidence of a plausible link between silicone exposure from breast implants and the appearance of full-blown autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic conditions:
http://www.clinexprheumatol.org/article.asp?a=8023
Individuals with breast implants have a risk of developing breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma, or BIA-ALCL. BIA-ALCL is not breast cancer—it is a type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (cancer of the immune system):
https://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/ImplantsandProsthetics/BreastImplants/ucm239995.htm
The chronic inflammation associated with silicone-induced immune system irritation and toxicity from biofilms may be linked to the development of the cancer known as anaplastic large cell lymphoma:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896841115300275
A clear pattern of symptoms was reported in women with silicone breast implants, including fatigue, joint and muscle pain, morning stiffness, night sweats, cognitive and dermatological complaints. The observed pattern of symptoms was compatible with ASIA. In 69% of women, explantation of implants reduced symptoms. The probable association between the silicone implants and their complaints should be taken seriously:
http://njmonline.nl/getpdf.php?t=i&id=168#page=37
Fungus growing inside saline breast implants can move through the semi-permeable silicone shell into the body:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16996440
The product insert for breast implants states that the safety of breast implants has not been established in people with existing autoimmune diseases:
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh_docs/pdf3/p030053c.pdf
Fungus infection in saline breast implants can cause severe capsular contracture (internal scar tissue developed by the immune system around a foreign object that forms so tightly that it can misshape and harden the breast implant). The fungus was able to thrive in the saline solution because of diffusion of its nourishment through the silicone shell:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7480245
Several types of bacteria and fungi can grow and reproduce in saline breast implants over a long period of time:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9207676
Biofilm disease (biofilms are strong, slimy layers of bacteria or fungi that tend to grow around foreign objects in the body, like breast implants, and they cause and complicate many infections in the body) is a likely cause of capsular contracture:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12655204
Here are some of the latest news stories about the controversy surrounding breast implants:
The U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) sends a letter to all HCPs to make known to them the association between breast implants and BIA-ALCL, regardless of the breast implant's filling or texture:
https://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Safety/LetterstoHealthCareProviders/ucm630863.htm?utm_source=CDRHTwitterI&fbclid=IwAR3B0i18hcvKdmB4gStc979G1-n-WoKlu5mZOyS9_TPGBRMzncPx-C2BlQs
U.S. and European authorities allowed manufacturers to keep breast implant injury reports hidden from the public:
https://www.icij.org/investigations/implant-files/breast-implant-injuries-kept-hidden-as-new-health-threats-surface/
Global investigation into breast implants finds lack of clinical oversight and failure to track long-term outcomes:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/nov/26/breast-implants-study-reveals-serious-safety-concerns?CMP=share_btn_fb
Investors have filed a class action lawsuit against leading breast implant manufacturer Allergan, alleging that the company concealed from them association between textured breast implants and a rare form of cancer, BIA-ALCL:
https://www.icij.org/investigations/implant-files/allergan-faces-fresh-woes-as-investors-sue/?utm_content=buffer45fe9&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=Buffer+-+Twitter
Allergan can no longer sell its Microcell and Biocell textured breast implants in Europe and the FDA is also holding a meeting to discuss the potential risks of implants in 2019:
http://fortune.com/2018/12/19/europe-bans-allergan-breast-implants/
Textured Biocell implants, made by Allergan, have come under scrutiny among a growing number of plastic surgeons who are documenting high incidents of health problems. Some are blacklisting the once-popular devices and calling for their removal from the market:
https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2018/11/26/biocell-breast-implants-at-centre-of-biggest-controversy-in-plastic-surgery.html
Silicone breast implants increase arthritis risk by 600%, stillbirth risk by 450% and skin cancer risk by 400%:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6410599/Silicone-breast-implants-increase-risk-arthritis-stillbirth-skin-cancer.html
A comprehensive piece about BII:
https://www.longevitylive.com/anti-aging-beauty/anti-aging-health-studies/breast-implants-poisoning/
Personal stories are the next piece of evidence I have to present. Tens of thousands of people are testifying that they were extremely sick and felt remarkably better after getting a breast explant. The majority of those were people who had HCPs disregard their symptoms for many years and deny the possibility that their implants contributed to their health condition. I would like to quote again the study about medical mistakes being the third leading cause of death in the US:
"All evidence points to the need for much more patient involvement in identifying harmful events and participating in rigorous follow-up investigations to identify root causes... Hospitals are simply not going to heal without attentive, systematic listening to those harmed patients or their survivors."
With the ever increasing numbers of explant healing testimonies, the opinion, intuition, research and worries of a patient should not be ignored.
I have a lot of links to news stories of women who had breast implants removed. All of their stories have a similar unfolding: They were mostly healthy, decided to get breast implants, their health deterioated, they removed the implants and they started getting better.
If you only read one of these stories, please make sure to read the entire first story that I am posting here!
https://www.eastidahonews.com/2019/02/local-mom-issues-warning-after-breast-implant-nightmare/?fbclid=IwAR1Vj6nBz6H4ziHr8Tjr1hTgePqchayR894xnGyfl6hLQTM1GzGEZ0gbCgA
http://www.nbc12.com/2018/12/17/i-wanted-feel-more-feminine-woman-warns-breast-implant-illnesses/
https://www.shape.com/lifestyle/mind-and-body/breast-implants-removed-feel-better-years
I hope this information will empower everyone to make the best decisions for their health! There are a lot of websites and Facebook groups with information pertinent to getting breast implants out. The implant needs to be removed with the entire capsule around it, a procedure known as explant en bloc capsulectomy.
I also want to add that there should be no judgement for people who decided to get breast implants in the past, as we all do what we deem best with the information we had available to us at that time. I want to reach out to each person who has gotten implants or considering to get them, and implore you to realise that our standard of beauty should not be measured against a fake image in a magazine, but against our best and healthiest self. If your healthiest self has no boobs, then that is your most beautiful form.
P.S. A very big thank you to my dad and his wife 