Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Girl dies after cosmetic breast surgery

18-year-old Stephanie Kuleba died from an "extremely rare reaction to anesthesia called malignant hyperthermia" after undergoing cosmetic breast surgery. This reaction, which "causes the body temperature to spike as high as 112 degrees and salts to precipitate out of the blood," is very hard to diagnose and can be prevented, but only with very swift recognition and treatment.

This condition can result from any surgery requiring anesthesia, but the fact that Stephanie's purely cosmetic surgery led to her death is saddening.

"The death has focused attention on elective breast augmentation surgery, a procedure that 347,500 women of all ages chose to have in 2007 alone. That number is 6 percent higher than in 2006 and 64 percent higher than in 2000.

Although the FDA recommends that only women 18 or older get breast implants, the number of girls under that age submitting themselves to the surgery continues to grow. In 2005, the last year for which full statistics are available, more than 3,500 girls had breast implants."

What kind of society teaches young girls to be so dissatisfied with their bodies at such young ages that they opt to go under the knife, even when that could cause death? Does anyone have any ideas about how to address this issue, and possibly change it?

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

This condition can result from any surgery requiring anesthesia,

even when that could cause death?


It is just as safe as any other surgery. Can you really blame society alone? If so, why don't all girls without massive boobs get implants? Is it all society, or are there other factors?

Amelia said...

Well, I think it is largely the fault of a society that has come to value impossible physical standards for women, like large breasts, and waif thin frames. If big breasts were not so highly prized in American society, do you think there would be any market for cosmetic breast surgery?

Just some thoughts.

Anonymous said...

That is crazy. She died for boobs.Untill breast surgery promotes terroism I'm not going to give it too much thought. And Aimee your probably right. But I can't blame her for trying to better herself.

Anonymous said...

I think part of the blame lies with the parents; they should've taught her surgeries like these are meaningless. You should live with the hand that you are dealt.

Josh said...

It's not really society as a whole that causes this, I think it comes down to basic business. Guys want to see big boobs, they're fun to look at, so business people go with the flow and put them out there. Unfortunalty these women do not understand that though guys like to look at big boobs, it is not what a majority of them want. Honestly just about every guy I know would prefer small to medium boobs, because big boobs are just a pain in the ass to live with.

Josh said...

Haha, that last one kind of makes it look like alls I look for in a girl is boobs, but that's not quite the case. Boobs may draw a guy in, but it takes a lot more to keep a good guy (Like myself) around.

Anonymous said...

I definitely agree with Geoff on this one. People tend to blame society for things that are predominately a parenting problem. Same goes with video games; some people think video games are degrading youth today, but in reality it is just a parenting issue.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and Frenchy-we all know you like aveage size tits. You didn't have to reassure us of that! It was funny though.

Josh said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Josh said...

Thanks Matt, but I think blaming parenting for all of the bad things that people do is not a good enough answer. That would be like blaming the government for everything that is bad with this country. It's just a way to point a finger and and lay the blame on somebody. In some situations, like when the parents were butt holes, that this may be true, but there are a lot situtions where kids grow up in average families and go a completely different way from them. Like people who live in a family that drinks, but don't like to drink, or in a family that likes to read, but don't like to read. People have the ablity to determine what is right and wrong based on their own ideas, and this is something that no amount of parenting, good or bad, can change. I am not sure if there is really any way to fix the problem that you are talking about, I think it is up to people to decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong. And if they choose to do something that you don't think is right, well then you just have to let them do it, because if they see it as being the right thing, then no matter what you say or do, they will do what they want.

Amelia said...

See, Josh, I would like to analyze WHY people think certain things are right or wrong.

I agree. People can grow outside of what their family believes. But if that is the case, where does their sense of right and wrong come from? And can those sources be relied upon to be healthy, and promote sound decisions?

Something to chew on.

Josh said...

Haha, not even somebody as amazing as myself can answer the question as to where people truly get their ideas of right and wrong, and I don't think that anybody will ever be able to fully answer that question.