Inland Cosmetic Surgery

Orlando plastic surgeon, Richard Bosshardt recently outlined the status of modern breast cancer treatments and the medical efforts to minimize negative effects associated with the disease.

Most women know that early detection is key and many are aware of the statistics - For example:  “about 1 in 8 women will have to face breast cancer in their lifetime.”  However, there are new reasons to be optimistic: Doctors have begun practicing “breast conservation” rather than outright removal, chemotherapy is more advanced and reconstruction has become more sophisticated than ever, with patients often improving their appearance as a result.

Also, family ‘genetic markers’ have become excellent risk indicators, narrowing the search for a definite cause.  Of course, as Dr. Bosshardt says, breast implants, the choice to wear (or not wear) bras and high-fat diets have never been shown to have any correlation with increased breast cancer risk.

Read Dr. Bosshardt’s original article at the Orlando Sentinel here.

In August, The Suwanee Democrat, a small time Florida news provider printed an incredible story about a woman named April Pinkard. She’s a 35-year-old wife and mother of four who has suffered from a never before documented “floating heart” condition. The treatment for her condition may also be the first of its kind.

In 2005, while undergoing a routine exam, something strange occurred. Ms. Pinkard recalls the situation saying, “he listened to my heartbeat one day and it just wasn’t there.” Closer medical investigation revealed that her heart had shifted to another area of her body.

At birth, Pinkard suffered from lung disease, requiring doctors to remove one of her lungs at age 4. Apparently, this condition opened up enough space to mobilize Ms. Pinkard’s heart over the course of 30-some years. The “misplaced heart” was now posing a threat to her life and making her ill.

Pinkard’s doctor referred her to surgeons at the Jacksonville Mayo Clinic, where an interesting solution was formed. They gave her breast implants, but not in any conventional, aesthetic sense. They are intended to keep her heart positioned correctly, by preventing float. Light heartedly, she describes the feeling, “you can hear it move. If I push on my chest you can feel the squishes.”

Ms. Pinkard still faces the possibility of a lung transplant later in life, as well as other health challenges, but she has a very positive outlook. With such forward-thinking medical professionals, such as those on April’s side, maybe we can all share in her hope and high spirits.

Arthur Caplan is the author of over 25 books and directs the center for bioethics at University of Pennsylvania. Last summer, he gave a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. The topic was a philosophical (and scientific) approach to the possibilities of true anti aging.

Early into the lecture, Caplan recalled a story about a middle aged woman who had gotten a facelift. A younger female counterpart had said of her, “that’s terrible, it is unbelievable that you would do that. You should just accept the changes as they come.” Sharing this story served as an introductory example of a common attitude present in many people to day; a “puritanical” outlook on medical technology.

In his philosophical argument, Caplan presents many reasons why we should use medical technology and pursue new discoveries in the science of stem cells. With adequate funding and a more informed public, it is possible for us to achieve methods of whole-body anti aging, through the regenerative capacities of stem cells.

You can listen to the lecture here on Minnesota Public Radio.