Inland Cosmetic Surgery

Unless you’re living under a rock, you know that consumer demand for Botox and injectable is still growing. Botox is a common household name and over the last ten years has grown to be a part of our everyday lives.

A recent FDA report reveals 900 reports of adverse events over the past six years. The FDA will also convene a panel of experts to review the safety and efficacy of cosmetic fillers now on the market.

The problems reported to the FDA, although extremely rare, included facial numbness, swelling, and in the worst cases, severe allergic reaction and disfigurement.

Safety is extremely important and we recommend that you have Botox and all injectables with a trained cosmetic surgeon.

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.