Cosmetic Breast Implants Linked To Increased Rates Of Suicide, Study Finds

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Cosmetic Medicine / Plastic Surgery;  Mental Health
Article Date: 13 Aug 2007 - 6:00 PDT

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Women who receive cosmetic breast implants are three times more likely to commit suicide than women who do not have cosmetic implants, according to a study published in the August issue of the Annals of Plastic Surgery, the Los Angeles Times reports. For the study, Joseph McLaughlin, a professor of medicine at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, and colleagues analyzed data from 3,527 Swedish women who received cosmetic breast implants between 1965 and 1993. Scientists tracked the women for as long as 29 years after surgery. Breast cancer patients who received reconstructive implants were not included in the study.

The study found that the risk of suicide did not increase during the first 10 years after surgery but was 4.5 times higher 10 to 19 years after surgery and six times higher after 20 years (Gellene, Los Angeles Times, 8/8). According to the findings, the risk of suicide was greatest -- seven times higher -- among women who received breast implants after age 45, the Washington Times reports (Harper, Washington Times, 8/9).

The study also found that deaths related to mental disorders, including alcohol or drug addiction, were three times higher among women who had cosmetic breast implants (Los Angeles Times, 8/8). At least 38 deaths, or 22% of all deaths, in the "implant cohort were associated with suicide, psychological disorders, and/or drug and alcohol abuse [or] dependence," the researchers wrote.

Researchers found no increase in the risk of death from cancer, including breast cancer, among women who received implants. According to the study, women with implants were more likely to die from lung cancer and respiratory diseases, such as emphysema; however, that probably is because they were more likely to smoke, the researchers said (Fox, Reuters, 8/8).

Although the study did not examine reasons why the women committed suicide, McLaughlin said he believes that many of them had psychological issues before undergoing the surgery and that their problems did not improve afterward. Previous studies have found that as many as 15% of cosmetic surgery patients have body dysmorphic disorder -- a condition marked by extreme distress over minor physical flaws. People with the disorder have an elevated rate of suicidal thoughts and seldom improve after surgery, the Times reports (Los Angeles Times, 8/8).

"I think we don't even know how big of a problem it is because we cannot even pinpoint what proportion of women have psychiatric disorders," Loren Lipworth, a study author from Vanderbilt, said, adding, "There could be a whole lot of different disorders" (Reuters, 8/8).

Researchers noted that the study might have limited applicability to women today because breast augmentation is more acceptable than it was 40 years ago, the Times reports (Los Angeles Times, 8/8). However, the findings "warrant increased screening, counseling and perhaps post-implant monitoring of women seeking cosmetic breast implants," Lipworth wrote (Washington Times, 8/9). According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 329,396 breast enlargements were performed in 2006 -- an increase of 13% compared with 2005.

David Sarwer, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, in an accompanying commentary wrote that the study's findings suggest that women can experience psychological improvement after surgery but that it is not sustained (Los Angeles Times, 8/8). "Until we know more about the relationship between breast implants and suicide, this conservative approach is recommended with both the patient's and surgeon's well-being in mind," Sarwer wrote (Washington Times, 8/9).

An abstract of the study is available online.

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