More than 17 million cosmetic procedures performed last year in USA

Chicago – A procedural survey conducted by the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery says more than 17 million cosmetic surgery procedures were performed in the United States in 2009.

The total number of procedures from this first-time study far surpasses any number that has previously been reported in the U.S. This is the first nationwide survey of its kind done by the AACS. In addition to the annual polling of its own members, the AACS also surveyed random physicians across the country to find out who is performing cosmetic surgery procedures.

The total number of procedures performed by AACS members has increased by eight percent since 2008.

“The cosmetic surgery industry continues to grow at a rate many people never thought it would reach,” said AACS President Mark Berman, MD. “With the aging of the baby boomer generation, I don’t think we’ve come close to hitting the ceiling yet. That 17 million is only going to expand.”

Among AACS member practices, the biggest increase in invasive procedures in the last five years are in blepharoplasty (eyelid lift), abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) and rhinoplasty (nose). For less-invasive procedures, the biggest increase over that five-year period is in laser resurfacing, chemical peels and fillers.

For AACS members, rhinoplasty surgeries jumped from 12,460 in 2008 to 21,730 in 2009, a 74 percent increase. Facelifts were also up this year, from 20,478 in ’08 to 34,455 in ’09, a 44 percent spike.

“As the economy recovers slowly but surely, we are seeing patients come back and feel better about doing some things for themselves that maybe they’d been putting off for a while,” Berman said.

Feel free to contact us for more information about cosmetic surgery procedures in Argentina.

Obesity Associated With Depression and Vice Versa

Chicago — Obesity appears to be associated with an increased risk of depression, and depression also appears associated with an increased risk of developing obesity, according to a meta-analysis of previously published studies in the March issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

“Both depression and obesity are widely spread problems with major public health implications,” the authors write as background information in the article. “Because of the high prevalence of both depression and obesity, and the fact that they both carry an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, a potential association between depression and obesity has been presumed and repeatedly been examined.” Understanding the relationship between the two conditions over time could help improve prevention and intervention strategies.

Floriana S. Luppino, M.D., of Leiden University Medical Center and GGZ Rivierduinen, Leiden, the Netherlands, and colleagues analyzed the results of 15 previously published studies involving 58,745 participants that examined the longitudinal (over time) relationship between depression and overweight or obesity.

Read the rest of this entry »

Woman gives birth to two healthy babies in separate pregnancies after ovarian transplant

For the first time, a woman has given birth to two children after her fertility was restored using transplants of ovarian tissue that had been removed and frozen during her cancer treatment and then restored once she was cured.

Following her ovarian transplant, Mrs Stinne Holm Bergholdt gave birth to a girl in February 2007 after receiving fertility treatment to help her become pregnant. But then, in 2008, she discovered she had conceived a second child naturally and gave birth to another girl in September 2008.

Her doctor, Professor Claus Yding Andersen, reports her case in Europe’s leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction. “This is the first time in the world that a woman has had two children from separate pregnancies as a result of transplanting frozen/thawed ovarian tissue,” he said. “These results support cryopreservation of ovarian tissue as a valid method of fertility preservation and should encourage the development of this technique as a clinical procedure for girls and young women facing treatment that could damage their ovaries.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Evaluation of young adults conceived via IVF shows them to be “happy and well adjusted”

A study published on-line this month in the journal Fertility and Sterility shows that young adults conceived via IVF were generally as happy and well adjusted as their peers.

Researchers at Eastern Virginia Medical School’s Jones Institute of Reproductive Medicine questioned a cohort of young adults conceived in that program’s clinic between 1981 and 1990. The Jones Institute was a pioneering center for reproductive medicine, achieving the first IVF birth in the United States in 1981. Researchers contacted the young adults via their parents and received a 31 percent (n=173) response rate to their 90 item questionnaire.

The results showed that when compared to other young adults, the IVF conceived were found to be “healthy and well adjusted with no prevalence of increased susceptibility to chronic diseases.” However the reported incidence of clinical depression and especially ADD/ADHD were higher among IVF offspring.

“This is a significant study and one of a number of long term outcomes studies that are currently being done.” Said James Goldfarb, President of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART). “It is comforting to see that the data bears out what we have believed, that children conceived via IVF are generally as healthy as other children, even as those children become adults. While the findings of increased depression and ADD/ADDH is notable, other studies have not shown these increases. We need to continue to do the research that will allow us to discover if there are any areas of concern for IVF children. ” Dr. Goldfarb added.

For more information about In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) please do not hesitate to contact us.

Obese Teens Who Receive Gastric Banding Achieve Significant Weight Loss

Chicago — A higher percentage of severely obese adolescents who received laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding lost more than 50 percent of excess weight and experienced greater benefits to health and quality of life compared to those in an intensive lifestyle management program, according to a study in the February 10 issue of JAMA.

Adolescent obesity is a serious health challenge globally. In the U.S., more than 17.4 percent, or more than 5 million adolescents were obese in 2004, an increase from 14.8 percent in 2000. Obesity is associated with both immediate and late health effects and reduced life expectancy, according to background information in the article. Lifestyle programs that have included changes in diet, exercise, and behavior to promote weight loss often have poor results. “Bariatric surgery is now extensively used for adults and is being evaluated for adolescents,” the authors write. “Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (gastric banding) has the potential to provide a safe and effective treatment.”

Read the rest of this entry »

How to lower childhood obesity

Family meals, adequate sleep and limited TV may lower childhood obesity

Columbus, Ohio – A new national study suggests that preschool-aged children are likely to have a lower risk for obesity if they regularly engage in one or more of three specific household routines: eating dinner as a family, getting adequate sleep and limiting their weekday television viewing time.

In a large sample of the U.S. population, the study showed that 4-year-olds living in homes with all three routines had an almost 40 percent lower prevalence of obesity than did children living in homes that practiced none of these routines.

Other studies have linked obesity to the individual behaviors of excessive TV viewing, a lack of sleep and, to a lesser extent, a low frequency of family meals. But this is the first study to assess the combination of all three routines with obesity prevalence in a national sample of preschoolers.

Read the rest of this entry »

Study Finds Ponseti Method of Clubfoot Correction Leads to Lower Surgical Rates and Less Revision Surgery

Less serious recurrence seen with Ponseti casting method

Rosemont, IL – Clubfoot affects one in a thousand babies born in the United States, but with proper corrective treatment and follow-up, infants born with clubfoot can have feet compatible with an active, normal lifestyle. A new study in the February 2010 issue of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) compared two common treatment options for clubfoot – Ponseti method and surgical treatment.

“While more conservative treatment methods have become popular in the United States over the last several years, surgical treatment has been the primary option in New Zealand until quite recently,” explained Matthew Halanski, MD, who authored the study with mentors at the Starship Children’s Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand.

“This is the first controlled prospective study to compare the short-term outcomes for clubfeet treated either surgically or with the Ponseti method,” continued Dr. Halanski.

Fifty-five patients with 86 clubfeet were treated as part of the study. Forty patients’ feet were treated with the Ponseti method. Forty-six were treated with surgery and casting. The average number of casts per patient was six in the Ponseti Group and 13 in the surgical group.

The study found that among the patients treated:

* Fifteen feet in the Ponseti group had a recurrence requiring some surgery. Four of these feet had a major recurrence and 11 had a minor recurrence.

* Fourteen feet in the surgical group required revision (follow-up) surgery.

* Only one foot in the Ponseti group required revision surgery.

Read the rest of this entry »

Plastic Surgery Statistics: Male Breast Reduction nearly doubles in 2009 in UK

Despite Recession 36,482 Aesthetic Surgery Procedures Took Place in the UK

London, UK – The economy may have been sagging but the nation still found ways to remain uplifted during 2009, according to the latest audit figures from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (www.baaps.org.uk), the not-for-profit organisation established for the advancement of education and practice of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery for public benefit. The number of surgical procedures last year exceeded 36,400 –a slow but steady rise of 6.7% from 2008, despite the financial downturn. The most impressive stats have been recorded specifically in male surgery, the demand for which has grown by 21% overall, with the number of gynaecomastia (or ‘man-boob’) ops alone having shot up by 80%.

Highlights:

* 36,482 surgical procedures were carried out by BAAPS members in 2009, a 6.7% increase from 2008, when 34,187 were performed
* Women had 32,859 procedures in 2009, up from 31,183 (a modest increase of over 5%) but interest in male surgery far outstripped them with a 21% rise overall (from 3,004 last year to 3,623)
* The number of male breast reduction or gynaecomastia ops (‘man boobs’) nearly doubled from 323 to 581, a staggering 80% increase and moving from 5th most popular procedure for men to 3rd
* Breast reduction surgery proved popular among women as well, rising by 17% from 3522 to 4122
* Male brow lifts rose quite considerably (up 51%), from 72 to 109, as well as male facelifts which went up by nearly a quarter (23%) and male tummy tucks (up 20%)
* Rhinoplasty (or ‘nose jobs’) proved very popular with both sexes, increasing by 25% overall, thus rising from 7th most popular procedure to 5th
* Although facelifts actually fell in demand by 8% among women, the steadfast rise in brow lifts, eyelid surgery and nose jobs suggests patients may have sought cheaper and more targeted rejuvenation procedures
* Breast augmentation remains the most popular procedure with 8,565 performed this year (up just 1% from 2008)

Before and after a male breast reduction surgery (gynecomasty)

Read the rest of this entry »