Dr.Mercola jm@lists.mercola.com

Another Health-Harming FDA Mistake

Are silicone breast implants safe? Thirteen years after most use of silicone-gel breast implants was banned due to safety concerns, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seems to have changed its tune.

In a three-day hearing, two silicone implant manufacturers -- Inamed and Mentor corporations -- were given the opportunity to prove their implants were safe and durable enough to re-enter the U.S. market. And, in addition to the manufacturers' "sales pitches," more than 160 witnesses presented their pleas on both sides of the issue -- some of which shared horrific testimonies of ruptured silicone implants squeezing out of their eyes and ears.

Despite arguments about serious health problems caused by silicon implants, the FDA panel unexpectedly approved Mentor's application in a 7-2 vote. The decision surprised many experts for two compelling reasons:

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Not only had the panel voted to reject a similar application from Inamed, Mentor's top competitor, one day prior, but

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Mentor was largely considered the weaker of the two applications, as it followed patients in its principal breast-implant study a year less than Inamed.

Silicone implants have only been available since 1992 to women participating in controlled research studies; however, due to the FDA's approval of Mentor's application, more women have become eligible.

What does this mean? Considering more than 260,000 breast augmentation procedures and more than 62,000 breast reconstruction procedures were performed in the United States last year alone, the number of women vulnerable to the adverse side effects of silicone implants is poised to rise.

Coming on the heels of the recent Vioxx and Bextra debacles, the latest edition in our ongoing series, "The Misadventures of the FDA," proves unequivocally that the folks who run things over there do not seem to have your best long-term interests in mind.

A rational assumption would be that the FDA would learn something from the Vioxx situation. Sadly, that does not appear to be the case.

The question here isn't about whether or not silicone breast implants can be safe. They obviously can. If they were uniformly dangerous, then every woman who got them would get sick, as silicone in the body that is not adequately contained can wreak havoc on your health.

Read this testimony from one of my patients and see for yourself.

I simply don't understand how the FDA, unless it was influenced by greed, could have come to their decision to allow silicone breast implants back on the market. Even if the incidence of implant ruptures are reduced from their previous numbers,

Upon doing so, they will cause the same problems they have caused before.

I strongly believe that breast implants are a temporary solution to a deeper issue: Poor self-image. Not being able to accept the way you naturally look contributes greatly to a woman's decision to have this surgery in the first place.

If a poor self-image is behind all the work you do on your body through dieting, weight training, exercise and even breast augmentation surgery, these things will never truly be enough for you.

Addressing the underlying emotional issues behind your actions seems a far more rational approach if your goal is to be truly happy with yourself.

Fortunately, there are simpler solutions you can use to solve your self-image problems, and they have nothing to do with anything invasive or toxic.

Energy psychology tools are the most effective method I have found to address emotional issues, and one of my favorites is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) . EFT is a form of psychological acupressure, based on the same energy meridians used in traditional acupuncture to treat physical and emotional ailments for over 5,000 years, but without the invasiveness of needles.

Instead, simple tapping with the fingertips is used to input kinetic energy onto specific meridians on the head and chest, while you think about your specific problem -- whether it is a food craving, a traumatic event, a pain, etc. -- and voice positive affirmations.