Thousands and thousands are ill. But millions of women also wear shoes, and thousands of these women are ill. Silicon has been studied, and studied, and studied. A study of 10,000 women conducted by the Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association in February 1996 found that silicone breast implants do not pose a large risk of causing connective tissue diseases. A study of 1,601 women at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada showed no increased levels of autoantibodies among women with implants.
Autoantibodies are present in connective tissue diseases.
The study was endorsed by he American College of Rheumatology. A review of implant studies published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute by researchers with the Food and Drug Administration and the National Cancer Institute and released in September 1997 found that women with breast implants are not at increased risk for breast cancer. The studies are quite consistent in finding a decrease. These include potentially fatal connective tissue diseases such as scleroderma and lupus erythematosus. A study released September 1997 by the Western Journal of Medicine found no evidence linking silicone breast implants with connective tissue diseases.