Silicone and Cancer linked

Here are some articles from today's news that links the silicone in breast implants with a rare form of cancer. What does that have to do with us? Most of our leads are coated with silicone:
http://www.latimes.com/health/la-na-breast-implants-20110127,0,1880966.story

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/CancerPreventionAndTreatment/fda-reports-link-breast-implants-rare-blood-cancer/story?id=12770991&page=3

The tissue surrounding breast implant sites has been found to contain silicone within the cells, causing researchers to think that the causative agent could be the silicone itself. For us, we would be told that the benefit outweighs the risk, but lead manufacturers should look for a new coating, if they find their coatings to be carcinogenic. We all want to live a long time, without cancer. AmyS

5 Comments

Amen

by kathykat11 - 2011-01-26 09:01:02

My sentiments exactly, I am too old to recover from another stroke but I think I could handle chemo. I know the physical therapy for strokes is more than this old body could do. It was almost more than my 30 year old body could take, at 58 I don't think I'm up to it. I am losing sleep over too many things to add another. I will enjoy my heart beating well over the 32 beats that earned me this lovely little beastie, I will take my chances. Thanks for the update though.
Best,
Kathykat11

Not suggesting we should panic...

by AmyS - 2011-01-26 09:01:16

Tracey, I'm not suggesting that we panic and not have any coating at all. But if we can have a coating that's safer for the very long term implantation of these leads, then that is what we need to have. And if we need to be aware of the symptoms of this type of cancer (pain and swelling that appear long after the implantation in the pocket where the leads are looped), then we have to have this info so that we don't pass it off as something else. Cardiologists are wont to pass off too many anomalies already. If this study is duplicated and a more distinct correlation is found between silicone and cancer, then I would hope that the FDA would go ahead a ban it. Medical device manufacturers would then have to follow suit.

silicone

by Tracey_E - 2011-01-26 09:01:29

I take these studies with a grain of salt. One study is never conclusive, and the media likes to play it up and make it more sensational than it often is. And depending who funds the researched, it's often skewed. It may well be that silicone causes problems, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. My understanding is the reason they use silicone on the leads is to prevent clots and blockages in the veins. I'd be dead without my pm so it's my only ticket to a long life. I think I'd rather have a small increased risk of cancer than a large risk of a stroke, small price to pay for the quality of life I have with my pm.

true

by Tracey_E - 2011-01-26 10:01:34

I agree with everything you've said and the more knowledge we're armed with, the better. I plan to keep on pacing for a lot of years to come, so I've always kept an eye on research that involves long term use of pm's or any related technology. Coming up with something new that's going to be a safe alternative to silicone long term involves years of testing and approval processes, and the only way to really know if it's safer is to use it long term. They're always researching, coming up with something better, I'd be surprised if someone isn't working on it now. But it's still a foreign object which means it's inevitable that it may eventually cause problems no matter what you make it out of.

Life is full of risks. I'm more worried about getting cancer from the chemicals and preservatives in the food I eat than having problems with my pm. There's petroleum in the lipstick I used to use, there's bad stuff in shampoo, the air is full of pollutants... not trying to be a smarta$$, just pointing out that we're surrounded by cancer risks and it's not going to go away. How much higher is the cancer rate now than when our grandparents were kids? I won't go off on my FDA rant, lol, but we can't count on them to protect us either. They jump on things that are only possibly risky, they take years pondering something that's clearly risky. I can change my brand of make up, I can buy organic food, I can avoid smokers. I can't do anything about my leads. Even if they came up with a better one tomorrow that was guaranteed to never cause problems, it would be crazy to go through an extraction, that would be more risky than having problems from the silicone in what I've got.

Silicone & Silicone

by SMITTY - 2011-01-27 11:01:28

There are silicones and there are silicones. The only thing in common may of them have is the Si as in silicon. I have no first hand knowledge of this but I assume that the silicone used in breast implants is a soft pliable compound. I'm 99.99% sure that the silicone used in the insulation on our leads is hard as nails. This means the Si in each of these silicones is combined with different substances and if either one possibly has a connection to the cause of cancer my guess it that it is most more likely is the substances used to make the particular silicone.

Smitty

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