An information-exchange group for women who have silicone breast implants will begin Thursday at Illinois Masonic Hospital in Chicago.
The group is being started by and for women who received implants for cosmetic reasons. According to the Food and Drug Administration, about 80 percent of the estimated 1 million women who have the implants did so for cosmetic reasons, not as a result of breast cancer surgery.
Nancy Curran, education coordinator of Women`s Health Resources at Illinois Masonic, said the group has been started because of interest from women who have the implants and are confused by conflicting information about their safety from the FDA, other women and plastic surgeons.
Researchers have noted that the devices sometimes rupture and leak, and there is suspicion that silicone damages the body`s auto-immune system. The FDA earlier this year limited their use.
Curran said the group`s first step will be to assess the interests of the women who attend. Depending on that assessment, she said various medical experts will be invited to speak and share information with the group.
One woman who has been instrumental in the group`s formation received implants for cosmetic reasons about 20 years ago. This year, she was told by one doctor to have them removed immediately; another doctor told her not to worry, Curran said.
”She began collecting reports and information on the implants,” Curran said. ”She discovered that everybody who published on the subject had a different viewpoint, depending on their agenda. People who had severe negative side effects had one viewpoint, plastic surgeons had another.”
The woman became so confused she decided to do nothing until she could collect data that was less conflicting, Curran said.
Among questions the group will address: how silicone implants affect mammograms, how a physician`s advice may be affected by his or her specialty, symptoms of implant-linked disorders and the FDA`s findings and recommendations.
The group will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at 1003 W. Wellington Ave. The frequency and dates of future meetings will be decided by group members. The sessions will be free. For details, call 312-525-1177.
