Introduction
Breast augmentation, also known as augmentation mammoplasty, concerns women who consider their breast size to be too small. It can mend a reduction of breast volume after pregnancy or after a significant loss of weight. By inserting an implant it is also possible to balance off a mammary asymmetry. Besides the surgery by which an implant is being inserted, there is no other method which can provide an obvious and significant breast size augmentation.On implants
Implants are made of silicone, as it proves to be the most frequently used material in producing medical breast implants due to its biocompatibility. Except for this role, silicone is used with further more purposes, such as stitch covers, protective layers for the artificial heart valves, silicone implants for patients evincing orthopedic conditions. About 12 years ago it was claimed that there might be a connection between silicone implants and two particular diseases: breast cancer and the autoimmune disease. Scientific research was done on more than 2.000.000 women with breast implants all over the world. They showed no clear evidence according to which silicone could cause any type of cancer or autoimmune disease. These data were collected by South California University and made public in the "Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery", as well as at Calgary University - Canada in the "English Journal of Medicine" and by Mayo Clinic - USA, all of them providing clear proof of the fact that there had been no increase in the risk for breast cancer with women having silicone implants. The autoimmune disease is a general term used to describe an immune system that reacts defensively to substances which are part of one's own body. These complications may appear spontaneously with common people.The theory according to which silicone might cause the autoimmune disease is totally wrong. It was clearly demonstrated by various tests done on several groups of women with breast implants. Clinical studies have found no clear link between silicone implants and connective tissue disorders. There are further ongoing studies that keep on verifying these results on large groups of women participating in such studies for a longer period of time.
Breast implants are either silicone shells previously filled with silicone gel or they are filled with salted serum during the operation. The use of gel-filled breast implants has recently been resumed in Europe and it has been also decided that starting with 2003 such implants may be used in the US, as well.