AGING BREASTS

Twin Study Sheds Light on How Breasts Age


Want to know how to keep breasts looking young? A new study of twins provides revealing information for patients on which factors help breasts maintain their youthful qualities as well as those that seem to diminish them.
Breastfeeding, daily moisturizing, and hormone replacement therapy may help breasts stay younger-looking. By contrast, smoking, drinking alcohol, multiple pregnancies, higher body mass index, and larger bra and cup sizes contribute to accelerated breast aging, according to a new study in the September issue of the Aesthetic Surgery Journal.
“Identical twin studies like this one are very valuable because they allow us to control for genetic influences,” says lead researcher Hooman T. Soltanian, MD, of University Hospitals Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, in a new release. “This allows us to more accurately assess the impact of external factors on breast aesthetics, such as environmental and lifestyle factors.”For the study, researchers recruited 161 pairs of identical female twins with a mean age of 47.6 years in 2009 and 2010. Aesthetic breast features were rated by plastic surgery residents using standard medical photographs. The ratings were analyzed against data on participants’ medical and personal histories to determine the significance of different external factors on breast appearance. Twins who moisturized their breasts daily had significantly fewer wrinkles in that area, and those who received hormone replacement therapy after menopause had a more attractive breast shape, size, projection, areolar shape, and areolar size. Women who breastfed had less attractive areolar size and shape, but better skin quality.

“This study is significant because it clearly shows women what they can do right now to help slow the aging process and keep their breasts looking attractive, even without surgical intervention,” says Foad Nahai, MD, the editor-in-chief of Aesthetic Surgery Journal, in a news release.

PLASTIC SURGERY UPDATE - VIDEO

ROSACEA

Does Bacteria Cause Rosacea? New Study Suggests it "Mite"


Bacteria that reside within tiny mites may cause rosacea, a new review study suggests.
Researchers out of the National University of Ireland report that rosacea may be triggered by bacteria that live within tiny Demodex folliculorum mites which make their home in our skin. Their findings appear in the Journal of Medical Microbiology. Previous research has shown that the numbers of Demodex mites living in the skin of rosacea patients is higher than in normal individuals. More recently, the bacterium Bacillus oleronius was isolated from inside a Demodex mite and was found to produce molecules provoking an immune reaction in rosacea patients. Other studies have shown patients with varying types of rosacea react to the molecules produced by this bacterium. In addition, this bacterium is sensitive to the antibiotics used to treat rosacea.
The new findings may give rise to more effective treatments for rosacea, conclude study authors who were led by Kevin Kavanagh, PhD. “Targeting these bacteria may be a useful way of treating and preventing this condition,” he says in a press release. “Alternatively, we could look at controlling the population of Demodex mites in the face. Some pharmaceutical companies are already developing therapies to do this, which represents a novel way of preventing and reversing rosacea, which can be painful and embarrassing for many people.
Michele Green, MD, a dermatologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, says that the new findings make sense. “I am not surprised, considering how often Rosacea improves or resolves with oral and or topical antibiotic therapy. Rosacea like traditional acne may indeed have the same cause and, hence, the same treatment.“

AUTOGENOUS TISSUE THE BEST IN NASAL SURGERY

Nose implants may increase infection risk, a new study suggests.

Researchers analyzed infection rate seen following 662 rhinoplasty procedures performed by three surgeons from 1999 to 2008. Medpor or Gore-Tex implants were used in 151 cases. Nineteen patients developed an infection, and all of the infections occurred in patients who had implants. In all but one of these cases, the implant began protruding through the skin.