Can implants cause nausea, shortness of breath, thyroid issues years down the line?

Question

I am considering implants but read an article on'celebrities who regret their implants' and a lot of them state the implants gave them bouts of sickness. I am really surprised by this, no surgeon I have consulted with has ever mentioned it. Because that is what some people claim?

Martin Jugenburg, MD · Answer

Current research
has shown that use of silicone-based implants is safe in the majority of
people. The real concern over silicone implant safety originated in 1990s when
it was speculated that silicone was associated with connective tissue diseases
such as cancer, systemic lupus erythematosis, rheumatoid arthritis,
scleroderma. This soon led to the ban of silicone implants in North America.
Following this, over 100 clinical trials showed that silicone implants are not
associated with connective tissue diseases. In 1999, an independent committee
of 13 research scientists affiliated with National Academy of Science concluded
that silicone breast implants do not cause any sickness or major diseases such
as depression, lupus, or rheumatoid arthritis, etc. However, silicone was said
to be responsible for localized problems such as hardening or scarring of
breast tissue. After structural re-engineering of silicone implants, FDA
approved them in 2006. Please note that today's 5th generation silicone
cohesive gel implants have been proven to be very durable and safe. In fact,
they have lower rates of capsular contracture and silicone gel diffusion. 
That being said,
researchers do not deny that some individuals do have allergies to silicone and
silicone-related products. However, this is very rare. 
I have never read nausea, shortness of breast, and thyroid related issues to be associated with implants. The non-specific
symptoms you will see being cited in blogs and reviews may include chronic
fatigue, joint pain, and muscle soreness. This can happen due to a multitude of
things, but it can be easier to lay blame on the implants when you see that
others are also blaming it. These sources of information are distorted,
inaccurate, and biased in important ways. As such, please be aware of the
nocebo effect where your negative perception regarding implants leads you to
experience symptoms or wrongly associate already existing symptoms to your
implants. 
That being said,
there is research into women who claim to have silicone implant-related
illness. In a review by Goren et al., it was found that these women had some
things in common:
1.      
Some of these women had prior documented
autoimmune reactions to external things such as vaccination, silicone etc
2.      
Some of the women had established autoimmune
conditions such as Graves disease, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, etc
3.      
 75% of
these women also had a history of allergic conditions such as eczema, hay
fever, pollen and dust allergy, drug allergy, rubber or latex allergy. 
4.      
Some women had relatives who had autoimmune
diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus, etc.

Goren, I., Segal,
G., & Shoenfeld, Y. (2015). Autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by
adjuvant (ASIA) evolution after silicone implants. Who is at risk? Clinical
Rheumatology, 34(10), 1661–1666. It was reported
that when their silicone-implants were replaced with saline implants, their
symptoms alleviated.  This research paper
suggested that in a very small population of patients, there may exist a
genetic predisposition to autoimmune-related symptoms, and that silicone may
just be an environmental trigger. If you have nothing in common with women in this research paper, then you have nothing to worry about.Now I need you to know a very important thing about the word you used in your question: "cause." In research, we don't use the word "cause" unless it is proven that item A causes item B. For example, smoking causes cancer is fine to say because it is proven. But we cannot say that implants cause an auto-immune illness until proven. People use the word carelessly, allowing blog readers to take things out of context and negatively connote implants for related illnesses. All the studies that we currently have use the word "associated." 
All I can is that
is you are truly worried about this, then you may opt for saline implants.
I advise you to
share your concerns with a board-certified plastic surgeon, and hopefully they
can clear any misunderstanding and misconceptions.
Hope this helps.

Raffy Karamanoukian, MD, FACS · Answer

Removal of breast implants, intact or ruptured, may have positive implications if patients are symptomatic. A constellation of symptoms associated with breast implant illness, and autoimmune disease are considered when treating patients who have breast implants and are concerned about foreign body reaction. In our office, we begin this journey with a consideration of symptoms and exclusion of obvious autoimmune problems. In many of our patients, en bloc removal of breast implants with capsulectomy is important and beneficial. Further clinical evidence about breast implant illness is evolving and will continue to guide treatment. I would suggest removal if there is a possibility of foreign body reaction.

Best, 
Dr. Karamanoukian
Realself100 Surgeon

Robert D. Wilcox, MD · Answer

Dear Mrs. Sugar Lumps,
  
 
  
There have been two studies of over 40,000 patients each and then the FDA did a 15-year study with far more patients than this and there has never been any study linking silicone implants to any of these autoimmune diseases alleged nor any other problems.  I hope this has been helpful.

David Dellinger, DO, FACOS · Answer

There is no scientific data that shows that the current types of implants we use in the US causes these symptoms. The previous generations of implants from the 1980's and 1990's were empirically accused of causing systemic symptoms that you describe. The current (5th generation) implants we use in the United States have an excellent safety record and have been studied extensively. While I have seen a few patients with older implants with odd symptoms, I've not seen anyone with the current implants with any issues.

Robert Whitfield, MD · Answer

I have cared for many patients with implant related illness.  These patients have had several problems but many of them have to do with inflammation caused by bacteria that have been trapped in the pocket around the implant.  This is find routinely on culture and when performing en bloc capsulectomy.

Can implants cause nausea, shortness of breath, thyroid issues years down the line?

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Can implants cause nausea, shortness of breath, thyroid issues years down the line?

Answers (6)

Answer: Can implants cause nausea, shortness of breath, thyroid issues years down the line?

Answer: Can implants cause nausea, shortness of breath, thyroid issues years down the line?

Answer: Breast implants

Answer: Breast implants

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