Tag Archives: bbc

The rise in women seeking a perfect vagina

24 July 2012 Last updated at 02:27 ET Share this page By Melissa Hogenboom BBC News

A research charity has launched an animated film hoping it will encourage debate about the surge of women seeking "designer vaginas".

The film called Centrefold, funded by the Wellcome Trust, features three women discussing how labiaplasty – the surgical reduction of the inner labia – has affected them.

Last year more than 2000 labiaplasties were carried out on the NHS, and in the last five years there has been a fivefold increase.

Experts believe the total number is likely to be much higher when considering the unregulated private sector, where the surgery costs upwards of £3,000.

Despite the increase in labiaplasty there are no universal NHS guidelines on the size and shape of normal female genitalia.

Researchers say there is little known about the long term effects and are concerned women are not receiving enough psychological support before opting for surgery.

Anxiety dreams

Jessie said she used to spend hours flicking through magazines looking for women with similar labia to hers. she did not find any.

She said it was "another piece of evidence that there was something wrong with me" and made her feel like a "complete freak".

She experienced recurring dreams where she would imagine her labia as a scarf that would wrap itself around her neck. "There would be people standing around laughing and pointing."

"Shortly after the operation I would dream that they would grow back and I'd wake up in a bit of a panic."

A year on, her dreams no longer occur. she said she feels "really silly talking about it", but it was significant enough to cause her daily anxiety.

Emma also thought her genital area was abnormal. she said before her surgery her labia was "very long, dark, stretchy. it looked disgusting – shrivelled up".

"it was the only thing in my life that made me feel depressed. I was very excited about having labiaplasty. I thought it was going to be the end of all my problems. I thought it was going to look lovely, like a little designer vagina."

Though it is now smaller, Emma is still unhappy with her labia's appearance.

Women seeking labiaplasty need more opportunity to discuss their concerns, said Dr Lih-Mei Liao, a consultant clinical psychologist at University College London Hospitals.

"Worries about the labia are quintessentially psychological. when a woman says she is worried about her labia, surgeons may hear the word 'labia' and operate, I hear the word 'worry'.

"It's difficult when surgery is being advertised as a straight forward solution. it makes it hard for these women to engage psychologically with what's going on."

She added that psychologists "simply aren't being accessed as surgery is being presented as the obvious solution".

Jessie imagined her labia as a scarf around her neck – pictured here in a still from the film Centrefold Grooming trends

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons is calling for mandatory psychological screening before cosmetic surgery. it said a recent report found that routine psychological checks were carried out in fewer than 35% of clinics.

Dr Liao believes that a woman's anxiety or dissatisfaction with certain areas of her life may manifest itself as body image concerns.

"Surgery may have its place, but it needs to be seen as an extreme solution," she added.

Consultant gynaecologist Dr Sarah Creighton said her clinic sees girls as young as 11 years old seeking surgery.

She found that although a small percentage of women do have abnormal labia, in the majority of cases those with concerns had what she would consider a normal sized labia.

The trend for more extreme pubic grooming leaves the labia more exposed – something which has contributed to more women seeking surgery, said Dr Creighton.

"what we should be doing… is looking at alternatives to surgery so that women have other options, rather than resorting to an operation about which we know very little," she said.

The names of the women featured have been changed as they wish to remain anonymous.

The rise in women seeking a perfect vagina

Knee implants: more evidence needed? – Behind The Headlines – Inverurie Herald

The effectiveness of knee replacement surgery was in the news today, when the BBC and Independent reported that more evidence was needed on the long-term safety of knee implants.

The news, which follows recent reports on the safety of PIP breast implants and certain metal hip implants, is based on a report on knee replacement surgery published in The Lancet medical journal. it argued that although knee replacement surgery is highly successful as a treatment for osteoarthritis, there is a need for more long-term monitoring of surgery outcomes and steps to ensure that patients selected for surgery are suitable.

In addition, the report’s authors say that new implant designs are continually being introduced, often with little or no evidence of their effectiveness, and that more long-term monitoring of their safety and effectiveness is needed.

Although some online news sources have suggested that the review article found knee replacement to be dangerous, this is misleading. The report says that knee replacement is generally successful but that more needs to be done to assess which patients will benefit, to collect data on outcomes and to carefully monitor the introduction of new implant designs.

Knee replacements are usually carried out when the knee has been damaged by arthritis. in most cases, surgery is for osteoarthritis, the most common form of this disease, although it is also used for other forms. in osteoarthritis, the parts of the knee that slide over each other as you move become damaged, through either gradual wear or an injury. Only a small number of people with arthritis in the knees are given knee replacement surgery. it is usually considered if someone is in persistent, disabling pain and if non-surgical treatments, such as physiotherapy, have not helped.

During the operation, the surfaces of the knee joint that have been damaged by arthritis are removed and replaced by new parts, made of metal and plastic. in effect, this artificial hinge replicates the natural range of movements of the knee. Patients can have either a total knee replacement (TKR), in which all the surfaces are replaced, or a partial knee replacement, in which only part of the knee is replaced. a TKR is the most common form of the operation.

Knee replacement surgery is an increasingly common procedure and the number of operations is rising annually. over 70,000 knee replacement operations are carried out each year, about four out of five of them in women. in the UK, rates of knee replacement operations in women increased from 43 per 100,000 person years in 1991 to 137 per 100,000 person years in 2006.

The average age for having this surgery is 70 years old but, according to the new report, knee replacement is increasingly being considered for patients younger than 55. The authors say that the reason for this trend is unclear. For example, it could be due to increased patient expectation or more osteoarthritis among young people because of the increasing incidence of obesity.

Knee replacement surgery is generally considered to be a highly successful operation. it improves pain, mobility and quality of life in many people with advanced arthritis of the knee joint. The charity Arthritis Research says that about four out of five people who’ve had the operation say they are happy with their new knees. however, some people are disappointed with the outcome of their surgery or are unsure whether there has been an improvement.

This is why it’s important to ensure that patients considered for the operation are those who would derive the most benefit. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) says that although joint replacement operations can provide very good pain relief for many people with osteoarthritis, in a substantial number of cases the outcome is not good enough. “It would be very useful to have pre-operative tools to help choose the people who would derive most benefit,” NICE commented.

The new review article argues that there’s an urgent need for improved decision making to assess whether a patient should undergo the procedure. Evidence-based information should be given to patients about factors that are known to influence the outcome of their surgery.

The article also says that long-term monitoring of outcomes is needed, through national joint-replacement registries and electronic patient records reporting the rates of revision surgery and other outcomes.

All major operations carry some immediate risks, including blood clots and infection. in the longer term, knee replacement surgery can lead to complications. These include the knee giving way (instability) or continuing to hurt, numbness around the joint, problems with bending and the need for a second operation to correct or remove part of the implant, known as revision surgery. The need for revision surgery is often the result of the new joint becoming loose. Other common reasons include infection, pain and stiffness.

Some internet news reports implied that the review has judged knee replacements to be unsafe. however, the article primarily discussed the decision-making processes behind knee replacement surgery and the need to gather evidence on the best practice for knee replacement and on the effectiveness of new implant designs. it did not suggest that knee replacement is unsafe or that it should be stopped, although it did argue for improved collection of safety data.

The report says that orthopaedic manufacturers are continually introducing new designs for implants and that doctors expect that these new implants will improve outcomes. however, there is evidence to suggest “this belief is incorrect”.  The new implants are often introduced with little or no evidence of their effectiveness, the report adds.

Limited release of new implant designs as part of well-conducted large-scale randomised controlled trials is essential, the authors argue. in addition, national joint registries should monitor the outcomes of new implant designs.

The report says that national joint replacement registries, such as the UK’s National Joint Registry (NJR), are one of the best and most important sources of data on knee replacement surgery. These registries collect data on measures such as revision surgery, as well as patient-reported outcomes.

According to the report, improved long-term monitoring of outcomes using both national registries and electronic patient records should be undertaken. This is so that both patients and surgeons have good-quality evidence to assess different implants and techniques and to improve decision making.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has reportedly said that since April 2003, all knee joint replacement operations in England and Wales have been recorded by the NJR.

If your implant is causing problems or you are anxious about it, ask your GP to refer you to your surgeon.

Knee implants: more evidence needed? – Behind The Headlines – Inverurie Herald

Here’s how much we’re overeating

When you think about how much you eat, you’re probably thinking about whether a favorite outfit will fit, or you’re feeling a bit guilty over missing a workout.

Then there’s the big picture.

ADVERTISEMENT

Researchers say we are getting so fat it could have the same impact as an extra billion people in the world. The chart in a BBC story based on a report by London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine shows how many people could be fed by the amount of food consumed by overweight and obese people in the top 10 overweight countries. (“m” = million)

Yep, we’re right up there. at no. 1.

SEE THE CHART HERE

The school says in a news release: “People’s weight – not just population size – should be taken into account when planning how to deal with increasing pressure on the planet’s dwindling resources.”

Prof. Ian Roberts, who led the research in “The Weight of Nations” report, says in the BBC story: ”When people think about environmental sustainability, they immediately focus on population. Actually, when it comes down to it – it’s not how many mouths there are to feed, it’s how much flesh there is on the planet.”

He says in the news release: “Everyone accepts that population growth threatens global environmental sustainability – our study shows that population fatness is also a major threat. Unless we tackle both population and fatness our chances are slim.”

Here’s how much we’re overeating

‘I was so happy to be pregnant but I couldn’t smile with dodgy facial implants …that ruined it’ – says Alicia Douvall

Normal enough, but the plastic surgery addict was actually thrilled because it meant she could have cosmetic work done once the baby popped out.

Former glamour model and kiss-and-tell queen Alicia, 32, gave birth to second daughter Papaya Coco last Christmas, with her 16-year-old daughter Georgia acting as her birthing partner.

It was filmed for new BBC Three TV show Glamour Model Mum, Baby & me which stars Alicia and both her daughters.

Now Alicia, who has spent more than £1million on more than 100 cosmetic procedures — and almost died several times from surgical complications — admits she was emailing cosmetic surgeons abroad from her maternity ward.

Telling … Alicia Douvall on Simon Cowell in the SunHowever, this time it was for corrective surgery to fix dodgy facial implants she had done before she realised she was pregnant which had disfigured her face and left her unable to smile.

She has promised both her newborn daughter and Georgia that it was her final surgery, and six months on is sticking to it.

Alicia, 32, told TV Biz: “I had implants in my nose, top lip and chin and I couldn’t move my lips or my mouth or smile. I stayed indoors for my whole pregnancy, and it stripped me of everything.

“I wasn’t counting down to the birth of my daughter, I was counting down the days until I could have my facial implants taken out.

“The day Papaya was born I was emailing the surgeon from the hospital — I was so desperate.

“It had overtaken everything. I couldn’t go out, I felt like a complete monster. I’ve had bad plastic surgery before but this distorted me and it hurt every day.”

Alicia’s surgery addiction was so bad she went to rehab three times to try and battle it.

Despite knowing this, surgeons still operated on her.

Glamour girl Alicia had been assured her facial implants were the “new big thing” in America but they left her suffering from constant pain and depression throughout her pregnancy.

However, despite the pain and trauma, new mum Alicia admits she’s almost thankful to the surgeon who did the unnecessary work on her face, as she believes he has finally cured her of the addiction she once feared would kill her. She said: “The surgery was awful but it actually finally put me off having anything else done.

“Before this, even nearly dying didn’t put me off.

“I finally realised that these surgeons were only after my money.

“I looked in the mirror and he’d completely distorted my face, just for money. It made me realise I am never going to do it again. I will never play Russian Roulette with my health or my looks ever again. It felt like I’d had a car crash and been disfigured but it was as if I’d driven my own car into a brick wall and done this.”

Alicia’s desperation to have her facial implants taken out and try and return herself to “normal” before her baby’s birth even saw her offer to undergo surgery AWAKE.

Alicia said: “Losing my smile was horrible. I even went to a surgeon when I was pregnant and offered to do surgery under hypnotism because the anaesthetic would have harmed my baby. I was so happy to be pregnant but I couldn’t smile and that ruined it. I felt so self conscious of my face and not being able to talk properly.”

Alicia’s new documentary follows the birth of her baby and the subsequent plastic surgery which saw her force daughter Georgia to miss a mock A-level to accompany her and look after seven-week-old Papaya while she was in the theatre.

Alicia says: “Papaya’s put a new perspective on my life and made me realise what I really want from life.

“With Georgia I didn’t have that opportunity because my parents brought her up on-and-off for the first eight years and because she was premature she was in an incubator for the first two months so it was harder to bond.”

In the past Alicia’s approach to motherhood has been heavily criticised.

When Georgia was 12, Alicia said she had asked for a boob job for her next birthday.

At the time Alicia caused revulsion saying her daughter could have the op in just three years, saying: “My mum always taught me to take care of my appearance and that’s all I’ve taught Georgia.

“Surgery’s just the modern-day next level. I think a 16-year-old with a nice, sexy figure will do really well as a model.”

But now she says: “I would not allow either of my daughters to have anything done. Georgia wouldn’t want it anyway, she’s seen what I’ve gone through now and she knows plastic surgery doesn’t work.

“I would go back to me pre-surgery in a heartbeat. what I’ve done to myself is terrible. I will never be able to smile properly.

“My lips are uncomfortable, I’ve got scars everywhere and I can’t look in the mirror comfortably.

“It’s a regret, but I’m not perfect.”

One happy surprise for Alicia was that she was able to breastfeed Papaya.

She said: “I was ecstatic. I emailed so many doctors and midwives, no one knew what was going to happen as I’d had 16 boob jobs and no one had seen that before, or knew whether I would breastfeed or not.”

Alicia says her ex, former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan, is Papaya’s dad — but he disputes this.

She said: “I believe the botched surgery is why Simon left me when he did. I was with him for three years but I think he thought I’d gone too far with the surgery.”

Alicia is as famous for her kiss-and-tell romps as she is for having so much surgery. And she admits her daughter Georgia finds it extremely embarrassing.

Her last kiss-and-tell came when she revealed her 11-times-a-night sex sessions with Simon Cowell.

Alicia said: “Georgia was very embarrassed about my relationship with Simon Cowell.

“But I revealed the details to make Simon Jordan jealous and make him realise he’s not that important. But yes, Georgia gets very, very embarrassed.”

Glamour Model Mum, Baby & me is on BBC Three on Tuesday 12 June at 9pm.

‘I was so happy to be pregnant but I couldn’t smile with dodgy facial implants …that ruined it’ – says Alicia Douvall

Tech Universe: Wednesday 11 April

MIND GAMES: ever played Tetris? Eye specialists at Glasgow Caledonian University are getting kids with ‘lazy eye’ to play Tetris for an hour a day to sort out their vision problems. Lazy eye, properly called Amblyopia, is where one eye focuses better than the other. the kids wear special goggles that show the falling blocks clearly to the lazy eye, but less clearly to the other. that forces the brain to be more active and can re-start some dormant cells. After around 10 days thevision problem is fixed. now do it for myopia please. BBC has more.

SIGHT IN MIND: In Australia the Monash Vision Group are working on a bionic eye to improve vision. a biologically inert chip is inserted into the brain, but can be tuned up by doctors without further surgery. the chip receives wireless signals from a special pair of glasses which detect which way your eyes are looking and then turn a digital camera in that direction. the glasses process the camera signal and send it to the brain as electrical signals via the implanted chip. the chip directly stimulates the visual cortex and the wearer’s brain eventually learns to interpret these signals as sight.Researchers hope to do their first patient tests by 2014. Spectacular. Details at Monash Vision Group.

HOLEY LIGHT: We think of optical telescopes as collecting huge amounts of light. all the light is focussed by refraction or reflection on a single point, usually involving carefully crafted, heavy and costly lenses or mirrors. a different approach by the US Air Force Academy instead uses a lightweight ultra-thin plastic disc called a photon sieve. the sieve is perforated by millions of microscopic holes. Each hole bends light at a different angle, creating a focal point. the sieve is cheap and easy to manufacture at large sizes, and it can be tightly folded and unfurled again. just try that with a standard mirror! the downsides are that it can only take black and white pictures and since it receives less light it doesn’t image dim objects. There’s always a case for the quick and dirty approach, so I’m sure someone will find these photon sieves useful. more at NewScientist.

SIGHT IN TOUCH: If you can’t see or hear then communication is pretty tricky. the Lorm alphabet though allows communication by patterns of touch on the hand. the Mobile Lorm Glove has been created in Germany to help wearers send and receive text messages, emails and chat using the Lorm alphabet. Sensors on the palm read touches and send them via Bluetooth to a phone. Small vibration motors on the back of the glove take signals from a phone and let the wearer feel the words. the makers hope to also develop the system to allow wearers to read ebooks and audio books. by translating between touch signals and email and other forms of messaging, it means deaf blind people can really open up their communication channels. Soon it may be true that on the Internet no-one knows you’re deaf blind. more information at Design Research Lab.

SOUND OF SILENCE: ever wished for just a few minutes of peace and quiet? it turns out we can’t really stand true quiet. the anechoic chamber at Orfield Laboratories in South Minneapolis is 99.99% sound absorbent. Metre thick fibreglass acoustic wedges, double walls of insulated steel and 30 cm thick concrete make it utterly silent. the chamber’s used for testing products and research into sounds and sound quality, but it’s not a human-friendly place. the silence removes cues we need for balance, so you have to sit down. Then you can hear your heart beating, your lungs, your stomach. Most people last only a few minutes before they start to hallucinate and have to get out. the half hour of quiet may be worth it though. The Daily Mail has more.

- Miraz Jordan knowit.co.nz

By Miraz Jordan

Tech Universe: Wednesday 11 April

PIP breast implants: MPs condemn NHS stance in England

27 March 2012 Last updated at 21:00 ET Share this page By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News The implants were manufactured by the French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP)

The stance taken in England on replacing PIP breast implants – at the centre of a health scare – "flies in the face of common sense", MPs say.

Patients who had implants privately can have them removed, but not replaced, on the NHS if the clinic will not help.

The Commons Health Committee said that meant patients being operated on twice and urged the NHS to remove and replace, with a charge for the latter.

Ministers said allowing people to pay for treatment would set a precedent.

The system called for by MPs would probably see patients paying about £1,500 for replacement on the NHS unless their private clinic agreed to cover the cost.

The cross-party group said the current position seemed to be putting women off having the implants removed.

They said doing it in one procedure made much more sense on both economic and safety grounds.

A review of the implants safety was ordered earlier this year because of conflicting data about the risk of the implants rupturing and leaking non-medical grade silicone into the body.

They were made by the French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP).

‘Clinically inadequate’

Health Committee chairman Stephen Dorrell said the stance at the moment was "clinically inadequate".

He added: "It flies in the face of common sense to put women through two procedures when one will do."

But he said the health service in England should not go as far as the NHS in Wales, which has offered the removal and replacement, as it was not right for the taxpayer to pick up the bill for what was a cosmetic procedure.

Northern Ireland and Scotland have similar policies to England.

The recommendation was one of a series made by MPs in their report on the issue.

About 47,000 women in the UK are thought to have been given PIP implants – 95% of whom underwent private operations.

The government has already ordered two reviews looking at the regulation of cosmetic procedures in general and the reaction to the scandal in the UK.

The MPs said it was essential some key shortcomings were addressed by those inquiries.

In particular, they highlighted the power of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, which issued an alert in March 2010 telling surgeons they should stop using PIP implants.

Such alerts require the NHS to respond saying they will not use the devices – but no such response is required from private clinics.

They also said it was important that a proper audit of which patients were getting which implants was kept in the future.

Fazel Fatah, president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, said changing the NHS stance on removal would "provide reassurance" to those women who were not getting support from their private clinics.

But Health Minister Lord Howe said: "I understand that the prospect of two operations is difficult and distressing for women, but it is a founding principle of the NHS that people don't pay the NHS for treatment.

"if we allowed patients to pay for treatment in this case, it would set a precedent for other treatments and cosmetic surgery. The responsibility for this sits squarely with private providers."

Jane Brown: "The surgeon said I'd look pretty awful if I had them taken out, but I feel like I don't have any choice"

PIP breast implants: MPs condemn NHS stance in England

PIP implant problems ‘stem from unregulated cosmetic surgery industry’

A committee of MPs has raised questions over the Welsh government's decision to provide free treatment for women with PIP breast implants.

The Commons Health Committee says while it makes sense to remove and replace the implants in one operation if there is a "clinical need", the replacement should not be free of charge.

The Welsh government says its aim is to help all women in Wales needing treatment.

The committee also looked at the broader state of the cosmetic surgery industry. It found that in some cases procedures have been "commercialised and trivialised", and some types of advertising can be inappropriate.

Anna Raeburn, a journalist and broadcaster who once worked for a plastic surgeon in the early 1970s, discusses the state of the industry with BBC Radio Wales presenter Peter Johnson.

They are joined by Kevin Hancock, a consultant plastic surgeon who works across north Wales and is a council member of the British Association of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgeons, who says the industry is "almost unregulated".

MPs question Welsh implant stance

PIP implant problems ‘stem from unregulated cosmetic surgery industry’