Breast implants linked to a rare cancer

Do you dislike how small, or saggy your ‘girls’ look and thinking on how you can make them more appealing? Or pressure from your partner or social media celebrities and posts? Breast implant, a procedure where medical prothesis is placed inside the mammary gland might have crossed your mind.

Chances are, you have googled and researched about the benefits and risks of breast implants. If you are serious about it, you might have paid a plastic surgeon a courtesy call out of sheer curiosity. But how well versed are you with the risks of breast implants before making the final decision to get a boob job?

In 2016, Kenyan Socialite Huddah Monroe real name Alhuda Njoroge confirmed of going under the knife to get breast enlargement out of pressure from her then boyfriend which almost killed her after developing health issues.

“I was dating somebody, the person who made me change so much about myself. This man wanted me to get bigger breasts and since I wanted to please my king I decided to go under the knife,” revealed Huddah during an interview with a local TV station.

However, in March 2018, the petite socialite had to fly to Beverly Hills, California after developing health complications from the breast implants that she did in Thailand.

“Got complications from a previous cosmetic surgery I had…and I am pleased with my doctors who have done incredible job on me… I can‘t be more thankful! I could‘ve died but I‘m well now,” she wrote in a social media platform with millions of followers.

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The constructive surgery costed her approximately one million shillings ($10,545) according to the hospital record documents that she shares online.

Recently, it has been revealed that breast implants are linked to a rare cancer called Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (cancer of the immune system).

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) as a unique form of ALCL that can develop following breast implant, implantation.

According to health reports, in 2016, 56 patients in Australia were confirmed with cases of the rare cancer including deaths of three women.

Last year the US received a total of 660 cases of BIA-ALCL including nine deaths of the patients.

According to the America Society of Plastic Surgeons, there are: saline breast implants that are filled with sterile water and Silicone implants that are filled with silicone gel. They can vary in size, shell thickness, shell surface texture and shape and are typically implanted to increase breast size or to rebuild breast tissue.

It is estimated that about 10,000 Kenyans travel overseas for medical check-ups annually, with over 100,000 people enquiring about cosmetic surgery. There is however, no record of the number of people that went under the knife.

In the country, breast augmentation, the process of enlarging breast with implants cost about Sh350,000-Sh450,000. The affordability of the services, Dr Stanley Khainga, a plastic surgeon in Nairobi points out that he receives at least 10 patients monthly who inquire about various cosmetic surgery procedures.

“Out of the 10, at least four or five of the patients will have a procedure carried out,” he said in an interview.

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It is advised that women seeking to have breast implantation to ask and address all the questions, concerns, fears directly with their plastic surgeons before consenting to the procedure.

Possible breast implants surgery risks include: Anesthesia risks, bleeding, infection, change in nipple sensation, poor scarring, faulty position of the implant, implant leakage, persistent pain, possibility of revision surgery among others.

Whether you choose saline or silicone implants, it is important for you to monitor your breast implants and follow-up with your plastic surgeon for appropriate checkups.

A renown American novelist once wrote that; there is no real beauty without some slight imperfection.