Popularity of cosmetic surgery growing among American minorities

American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery survey indicates Asian, Hispanic cultures comfortable with procedures

Chicago – In a survey released by the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, more than half of respondents said they think the popularity of cosmetic surgery has grown among members of their racial/ethnic group in the last five years.

Among racial/ethnic groups, Asians reported that cosmetic surgery is most popular (31.4 percent of respondents). They were followed by Hispanics (27.4 percent) and African-Americans (18.8 percent) in cosmetic surgery popularity. About one quarter of respondents surveyed indicated they knew someone of the same racial/ethnic background who has gotten cosmetic surgery.

“Cosmetic surgery is en vogue no matter who you are,” said Mark Berman, MD, President of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery. “Feeling better about yourself and making improvements to your looks is thankfully not limited to a specific race or culture.”

For invasive cosmetic surgery procedures, the most common surgery for Asian respondents is a facelift. Among black respondents, the top procedure is liposuction. And for Hispanic respondents, the most popular procedure is abdominoplasty (tummy tuck). More than 30 percent of respondents said they would seek out a cosmetic surgeon of the same race/ethnicity as themselves. And over half of respondents (56.6 percent) said it would be difficult to find a surgeon of the same race/ethnicity as themselves.

Before and after tummy tuck

Source: AACS

Patients With Diabetes May Need Fewer Medications After Bariatric Surgery

Chicago — Bariatric surgery appears to be associated with reduced use of medications and lower health care costs among patients with type 2 diabetes, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

“The rapidly growing epidemics of obesity and diabetes threaten to overburden the world’s health care systems,” the authors write as background information in the article. “From an epidemiological standpoint, once these diseases develop they are rarely reversed. Dietary, pharmaceutical and behavior treatments for obesity are associated with high failure rates, and medical management of diabetes is also often unsuccessful. Despite many efforts to improve the control of glucose levels in diabetes, including clinical guidelines and patient and provider education, less than half of all patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus achieve the American Diabetes Association recommendation of a hemoglobin A1C level of less than 7 percent.”

The use of bariatric surgery—that results in long-term weight loss, improved lifestyle and decreased risk of death—has tripled in the past five years, the authors note. Martin A. Makary, M.D., M.P.H., and colleagues at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, studied 2,235 U.S. adults (average age 48.4) with type 2 diabetes who underwent bariatric surgery during a four-year period, from 2002 to 2005. They used claims data to measure the use of diabetes medications before and after surgery, along with health care costs per year.

Of the 2,235 patients, 1,918 (85.8 percent) were taking at least one diabetes medication before surgery, with an average of 4.4 medications per patient. Six months after surgery, 1,669 of 2,235 patients (74.7 percent) had eliminated their diabetes medications. Of the 1,847 patients with available data one year after surgery, 1,489 (80.6 percent) had eliminated medications; after two years, 906 of 1,072 (84.5 percent) had done so. This reduction was observed in all classes of diabetes medications.

Before and after bypass gastric surgery

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Do Gender Knee Implants Provide Better Outcomes?

- Study finds gender-specific total knee prostheses provide no clinical benefits compared to standard prostheses in women

- For information about knee replacement surgery in Argentina please don’t hesitate to contact Sublimis.

Rosemont, IL – A gender-specific total knee prosthesis was developed to more closely match the anatomy of the female knee, aiming to be a better fit resulting in better outcomes for women. However, a recent study in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) found that 85 women who received a gender-specific implant in one knee and a standard prosthesis in the other knee found no clinical benefits of the gender-specific knee.

“We conducted this study to investigate whether women derive less benefit, or perhaps less predictable benefit, from total knee replacement using a standard conventional total knee implant,” said Young-Hoo Kim, M.D., orthopaedic surgeon and lead author of the study.

After receiving knee implants – one gender-specific and one standard prosthesis – the women were assessed for at least two years after surgery. The knees with the gender-specific implant and the knees with the standard implant had similar knee scores and similar range of motion while lying down (125° for the knees with standard implants and 126° for the knees with gender-specific implants). All patients except three were able to bend their knees at least 90°.

Additionally, patient satisfaction with the implants was similar (8.3 points for the standard implants and 8.1 points for the gender-specific implants). A rating of 6 to 8 meant “satisfied,” and a rating of 9 to 10 meant “fully satisfied.”

Important findings included:

* The majority of women in the study (71 females or 84 percent) had no preference between the two implants,
* eight women (9 percent) preferred the standard prosthesis, and
* six (7 percent) preferred the gender-specific prosthesis.

Knee Implant. Source: AAOS.org

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Argentina, among the most important centers for plastic surgery

- Worldwide Plastic Surgery Statistics Available for the First Time
- Non Surgical Procedures Outpace Surgical Procedures

New York – The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) is a world leader in plastic surgery. After a year-long process, the Society has produced the “ISAPS Biennial Global Survey(TM)” of plastic surgeons and procedures in the top 25 countries and regions – representing 75% of all procedures in 2009. The ISAPS Survey marks the first time reliable international plastic surgery data has been obtained and analyzed by independent statistical specialists.

“This year marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of ISAPS,” noted Foad Nahai, MD of the United States and current President of ISAPS. “The Society was founded at the United Nations by a group of concerned and proactive plastic surgeons. We could think of no better way of commemorating this important milestone than by commissioning and releasing this breakthrough Survey.”

Geographic Trends

The ISAPS Global Survey revealed a new hierarchy of countries with the most surgical and non surgical cosmetic procedures. While the United States continues its dominance in the field, countries not always associated with plastic surgery are emerging as major centers.

The top 25 countries and regions are:

1. United States
2. China
3. Brazil
4. India
5. Mexico
6. Japan
7. South Korea
8. Germany
9. Turkey
10. Spain
11. Argentina
12. Russia
13. Italy
14. France
15. Canada
16. Taiwan
17. United Kingdom
18. Colombia
19. Greece
20. Thailand
21. Australia
22. Venezuela
23. Saudi Arabia
24. Netherlands
25. Portugal

Before and after tummy tuck & breast implants

Most Popular Surgical and Non Surgical Procedures

For the last ten years, the consensus has been that breast augmentation was the most popular plastic surgery procedure. The ISAPS Global Survey reveals a new trend with liposuction representing 18.8% of all surgical procedures, followed by breast augmentation at 17%, and blepharoplasty (upper or lower eyelid lift) at 13.5%, rhinoplasty (nose reshaping) at 9.4% and abdominoplasty (“Tummy Tuck”) at 7.3%.

The popularity of surgical procedures varied by country with Brazil, the United States, China, Mexico, India and Japan the dominant countries for the top five procedures.

Reflecting both advances in cosmetic surgery innovation and the desirability of less expensive treatments, the number of non surgical procedures performed by plastic surgeons actually topped surgical procedures. While there is no previous baseline of information against which to compare these figures, there can be no doubt that this is a dramatic turn of events.

The top five non surgical procedures are: toxins or neuromodulators injections (Botox, Dysport) (32.7%), hyaluronic acid injections (20.1%), laser hair removal (13.1%), autologous fat injections (taking a patient’s fat from one location and transferring it in the same patient in another location) (5.9%) and IP Laser treatment (4.4%).

The countries where non surgical procedures were performed were dominated by the United States, Brazil, Mexico and China and to a lesser extent by Japan, Hungary, South Korea, India and Germany.

Obesity in Early Adulthood Associated With Increased Risk of Psoriatic Arthritis

For information about bariatric surgery abroad please do not hesitate to contact Sublimis Argentina.

Chicago — Among persons with psoriasis, those who reported being obese at age 18 had an increased risk of developing psoriatic arthritis, according to a report in the July 19 issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Psoriatic arthritis is a specific type of arthritis that develops in the joints of some patients who have psoriasis. According to background information in the article, “obesity has emerged as a significant risk factor for psoriasis,” and “psoriatic arthritis affects 6 percent to 42 percent of people with psoriasis.” Additionally, “psoriatic arthritis shares some clinical features with rheumatoid arthritis, both leading to joint destruction and significant morbidity.”

Razieh Soltani-Arabshahi, M.D., of the University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, and colleagues studied a volunteer sample of patients with dermatologist-diagnosed psoriasis enrolled in the Utah Psoriasis Initiative from November 2002 to October 2008. Of the 943 participants, 50.2 percent were women and psoriatic arthritis was present in 26.5 percent of participants with psoriasis (250 persons).

The study found that body mass index (BMI) at age 18 was predictive of psoriatic arthritis. Other predictors included younger age at psoriasis onset, being female and having larger body surface areas affected with psoriasis. Additionally, the findings show “the obese group having an earlier onset of psoriatic arthritis, followed by the overweight group and finally the normal BMI group.” Twenty percent of the overweight or obese group developed psoriatic arthritis by age 35 years while 20 percent of those individuals in the normal BMI group developed psoriatic arthritis by age 48.

The authors conclude that their findings, “support a growing concept that patients more prone to psoriatic arthritis might benefit from more frequent and meticulous screening measures for early detection and treatment of psoriatic arthritis, i.e., before the development of irreversible joint destruction.”

Genetic Basis of Alopecia Areata Established

Among the Most Common Forms of Hair Loss, Alopecia Areata Affects 5.3 Million in U.S.

New York – A team of investigators led by Columbia University Medical Center has uncovered eight genes that underpin alopecia areata, one of the most common causes of hair loss, as reported in a paper in the July 1, 2010 issue of Nature. Since many of the genes are also implicated in other autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes – and treatments have already been developed that target these genes – this discovery may soon lead to new treatments for the 5.3 million Americans suffering from hair loss caused by alopecia areata.

According to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, alopecia areata is a common autoimmune skin disease resulting in the loss of hair on the scalp and elsewhere. It affects approximately two percent of the population overall. While it affects both men and women equally, it is diagnosed more often in women, since they are more likely to seek treatment.

Among the eight genes, one stands out for its potential role in the onset of alopecia areata. The gene, called ULBP3, is known to act as a homing beacon for cytotoxic cells that can invade and quickly destroy an organ. Normally, ULBP3 is not present in hair follicles, but the ULBP3 proteins are abundant in hair follicles affected by alopecia areata. The proteins attract cells marked by a killer cell receptor, known as NKG2D. In addition to ULBP3, two other genes are expressed in the hair follicle, while the five remaining genes are involved in the immune response.

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CNN’s Brian Byrnes explains why Argentina has become a magnet for cosmetic surgery tourism.

In August, James Brandon traveled 5500 miles (8,800 kilometers) south from Toronto to Buenos Aires for liposuction, a nose job and eye lift — all at a fraction of Canadian costs.

“For what I’m getting done probably, it would have cost me about $50,000 dollars back home and here [in Argentina] it’s about $10,000 or $11,000,” he said.

Source: CNN

Oocytes Cryopreserved as good as Fresh Oocytes

On-going pregnancy rates from vitrified eggs as good as those from fresh, finds randomised trial

Rome, Italy – Embryos derived from oocytes (eggs) cryopreserved by the vitrification method are just as likely to produce an on-going pregnancy as those involving fresh oocytes, the 26th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology heard today. Dr. Ana Cobo, Cryobiology Unit director at Institut Universitari – IVI Valencia, Valencia, Spain, told delegates that the results of her team’s research would make egg donation both easier and safer in the future.

The scientists carried out a randomised clinical trial involving 600 recipients of either freshly-harvested oocytes or those preserved by the vitrification method, where oocytes are flash-frozen after the extraction of water, hence avoiding ice formation. Analysis of the results found that the on-going pregnancy rate in women who had received vitrified oocytes was 43.7% as opposed to 41.7% in the fresh oocyte group. The proportion of top-quality embryos was similar between the two groups, and there was also no difference in age or other demographic characteristics and the incidence of male factor infertility.

“Because we were able to show that there were no differences between the two groups before embryo implantation,” said Dr. Cobo, “we can be certain that the on-going pregnancy rates in both groups were not influenced by any factor other than the method of oocyte preservation. Although there has been considerable circumstantial evidence that cryopreservation by the vitrification method produces results as good as those with freshly-harvested oocytes, until this trial there was still a lack of large randomly-controlled studies in the field.”

The researchers say that their results will have a significant effect on the practice of egg-banking in the future. “Many patients will be able to benefit,” said Dr. Cobo. “For example, there are cancer patients who will be able to preserve their fertility before undergoing treatment that can make them sterile, patients who would be at risk of ovarian hyperstimulation, and those where a semen sample is not immediately available.”

Once an egg donor is recruited and screened she undergoes ovarian stimulation to produce a number of oocytes, which are then retrieved. The oocytes then need to be fertilised by the sperm of the male partner of the recipient and the best embryos thus produced are placed in the uterus of the recipient, whose uterine lining has been previously prepared to be ready to receive the embryo.

When using fresh oocytes, the need for synchronisation of all these procedures is paramount, but not always possible. Egg banking precludes the need to synchronise these timings, which can also be the cause of long delays

“As well as being able to shorten or even eliminate the current long waiting lists, egg banking also offers a safer donation process because it allows oocytes to be quarantined while the absence of any contagious disease in the donor is confirmed,” said Dr. Cobo. “Until now we have been unable to do this with any certainty.”

The scientists now intend to continue their research by following up the progress of babies born after oocyte vitrification. “We need to ascertain that there are no adverse effects on children conceived from cryopreserved oocytes,” said Dr. Cobo, “so we will compare obstetric and neonatal data from babies born after oocyte vitrification with those resulting from the replacement of embryos originating from fresh oocytes. Having made sure that the pregnancies are safe, it is important to ensure that pregnancy outcomes are also free from harm.”