Bigger Is Not Happier

The latest word on breast implants is a study from Canada that concludes that breast implants are safe - however, they are not effective. The researchers studied almost 25,000 women who had implants to determine that those who had cosmetic breast implants had the same mortality rate as the general public -- actually, it was lower -- but they had a significantly higher suicide rate -- 73% higher. The study authors concluded that the lower mortality rate was due to double selection bias - they were healthy and wealthy enough to undergo cosmetic surgery. So they compared the women who had other cosmetic surgery to the general public and got similar results - lower morality, higher suicide rate. So while the researchers say implants are safe (with reservations for individual complications), I say they are not effective since they do not seem to be a long term fix -- based on the increased suicide rate, they do not do what the woman is hoping for.