Hi all, on the newsgroups news:alt.support.breastfeeding and
news:alt.support.breast-implant there was posted an article that stated
that breast implants can be dangerous and cause auto-immune disease and
that women with implants should not breastfeed. I posted a reply  that
there is no evidence for harm by breastfeeding, while there is lots of
evidence that human milk is good for the development of the immune system,
and got the following 'answer':

Maybe someone wants to jump in?

"Autoantibodies and clinical rheumatic complaints in two children
of women with silicone gel breast implants.

Teuber SS; Gershwin ME

Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Clinical Immunology,
University of California, Davis.

Int Arch Allergy Immunol, 1994, 103:1, 105-8

Abstract

Considerable interest and efforts are directed at determining
the extent to which silicone gel breast implants may contribute
to the risk of developing autoimmune disease. There is also
comparable interest in determining the extent to which silicone
may alter the natural history of an established autoimmune disease.
Recently, there has been concern over the possibility that children
of women with silicone breast implants might somehow be adversely
affected because of either trans-mammary or trans-placental delivery
of silicone during either breast feeding or pregnancy. Herein, we
describe two children of mothers with silicone breast implants, both
female, aged approximately 3 and 9 years, both of whom had long-
standing myalgias that were unexplained and did not fit current
clinical criteria for juvenile arthritis. Both were found to have
positive antinuclear antibodies. Additionally, the 9-year-old girl
was found to have a significantly high titer of antibodies against
denatured human type II collagen; indeed, her titer was six standard
deviations above the mean for normal controls. There have been numerous
previous studies which have documented an adverse impact of trace
metals,
chemicals and some medications on the morphologic and neurologic
development of children exposed in utero. Much less information exists
on potential toxicity experienced by a neonate through breast feeding,
although examples of toxic transmission have been reported. In Western
Europe, but not the United States, women with silicone breast implants
are advised not to breast feed. Further research should address these
concerns and, in particular, women with silicone breast implants, with
evidence of leakage or rupture, should refrain from breast feeding until
further data are obtained. "

Annelies Bon         http://utopia.knoware.nl/users/abon/bfbronnen.html
breastfeeding counsellor of the Dutch bf org "Borstvoeding Natuurlijk"
mailto:[log in to unmask]
living in a small city, Almere, near Amsterdam, The Netherlands