Just received this press release and thought you all might be interested.
Nice to read some pro bf news for a change.  I wonder if it will get picked up
in any of the newspapers, though.
Cynthia D. Payne
LLL of Berkshire County Massachusetts

<<Children of Mothers with Breast Implants at No Higher Risk For Esophageal
Disorders

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill., Nov. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Children of women with
silicone breast implants have no increased risk of esophageal disorders or
autoimmune disease, according to a new study released by the American Academy
of Pediatrics.

"This is an important finding for women and their families," said Paul Schnur,
M.D., President of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons
(ASPRS).  "All mothers want the best for their babies.  This study concludes
that women with silicone breast implants can safely breast-feed their
infants."

In 1994, a link between a scleroderma-like esophageal disease in children
breast-fed by mothers with silicone breast implants was hypothesized.  This
Danish study examined that hypothesis, looking at a total of 939 children born
between 1977 and 1992 to 1135 mothers who had had breast implants in Denmark
(at least 84% were silicone gel-filled) for cosmetic reasons.  This study
group was compared to a control group of 3906 children born during that same
time to 7071 women who had had breast reduction surgery.

Both of these groups of women were identified from the Danish National
Registry of Patients (NRP), a data bank which keeps files on the public
hospital visits of all Danish citizens.  All Danish citizens have personal
identification numbers which are unique to them.  Each hospital admission
record includes, among other things, that personal identification number of
the patient ... child or adult ... and codes for surgical procedures performed
during the admission.  Consequently, each patient's reason for admission, date
of admission and patient's name can be easily tracked.

The researchers compared the occurrence of esophageal malfunctions and
disorders, connective tissue disease (CTD), other rheumatic conditions, and
congenital malformations among the study group of children whose mothers had
had breast implants to those of the control group of children whose mothers
had had breast reduction surgery, as well as to those of the general national
childhood population.

The study found essentially no risk of esophageal disorders or autoimmune
disease among those children born to mothers with breast implants and
concluded that silicone or breast implants are unrelated to either.

The study was published in the November 1998 issue of PEDIATRICS.>>