Posts Tagged ‘research’

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Study Shows Women’s Curves Mesmerize a Man like Drugs and Alcohol

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

According to a new study from Georgia’s Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, men prefer a woman with curves and that an hourglass figure acts as an intoxicant for the male brain.

Many women worry about their weight but results from this study showing that men simply prefer a curvier figure should make them rest easier.

Researchers at the college scanned the brains of 14 young men looking at nude before and after pictures of women who underwent a plastic surgery procedure that gave them more shapely hips. Their weight didn’t change, just redistributed through implanted fat taken from the hips and buttock.

The post-op photos excited the young male’s “reward centers” – or areas of the brain typically stimulated by drugs and alcohol. Proved to be particularly stimulating were women with high waist to hip ratios. Steven Palek, lead researcher on the project and an evolutionary cognitive neuroscientist, credits this to the reality that shapely hips in women are an indication of good health and the ability to carry children.

Results from the study also conclude that changes in a woman’s body mass index (BMI) only affected the parts of the brain linked to visual evaluation like size and shape but nothing else.  This may be proof that societal norms influence perception of female beauty more so than actual brain wiring.

“The media portrays women as wholly too skinny,” Platek told FoxNews.com. “It’s not just about body fat, or body mass index.”

If a woman’s natural curves are not optimal for this scenario, findings from this study demonstrate the benefits of a breast enlargement procedure or buttock augmentation. More curves are not only more appealing, they are downright intoxicating!

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Posted in Human Interest, Reconstructive Surgery | No Comments »

Similar Facial Aging Found Between Mothers and Daughters

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Another similarity between mothers and daughters uncovered by new research – mothers and daughters experience similar patterns in facial aging.

Researchers at Loma Linda University in California examined 40 mother-daughter pairs and examined their facial features using computer modeling and 3D cameras. The team found that mothers and daughters who look the same will age the same way as well. For example, if a mother has experienced volume loss in the lower eyelid throughout her life, her daughter can expect that to happen as well.

But thanks to innovative and minimally invasive cosmetic surgery and aesthetic options, young women do not have to surrender their face to destiny. Understanding your mother’s face and the progression of her aging can be a big help to plastic surgeons addressing sagging skin or volume loss the study concludes.

Lead researcher Dr. Subhas Gupta points out that through this type of research, plastic surgeons will be able to pinpoint exactly where they should inject facial fillers.

These new findings will be especially helpful to women in their mid-30s to early-50s, the best window for taking advantage of minimally invasive techniques to maintain their youthful look.

Other ways women themselves can slow the aging process is to eat healthy, limit sun exposure and don’t smoke says Gupta.

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Posted in Cosmetic Treatment, Human Interest | 2 Comments »

Univ. of Florida Plastic Surgeons and Research Biologists Develop New Shark Bite Severity Scale

Friday, February 19th, 2010

On the heels of a recent fatal shark attack in Stuart, Florida, researchers at the University of Florida – our local university here in Gainesville – developed a new scale to communicate the severity of a shark attack.

Being attacked by a shark sends chills up the spine of most. We’ve all heard of the movie Jaws and how some extreme injuries and perhaps even death are possible. So to better communicate the severity of such attacks, researchers at U.F. developed a scale similar to the scale for burn victims, creating a standardized way for medical personnel to evaluate risks and researches to evaluate trends, not to mention a way for the media and officials to communicate the impact of an attack to the public.

Dubbed as the Shark-Induced Trauma Scale, or SIT, the new system assigns scores to clinical findings like blood pressure, location and depth of injury, damage to organs and death. Lead researcher Dr. Ashley Lentz, M.D., a plastic and reconstructive surgery resident at the U.F. College of Medicine says “If it’s just an extremity and it’s an abrasion, it’s just a Level 1 injury.”

“If a shark comes up and takes a big bite out of a thigh and takes out the femoral artery, then that’s a life-ending bite – pretty quickly – and you are talking about a Level V injury,” Lentz said.

In announcing the study’s findings, researches gave an example of a Level III attack. A 35-year old man swimming approximately 30 yards offshore was attacked by a shark, which bit into the muscles of his calf and foot. He was hospitalized for infection and underwent 3 reconstructive surgeries.

Findings from the study showed that 41.7% of all shark attacks were minor Level I attacks, 16.7% were Level II, 18.8% were Level III, 14.6% were Level IV and 8.3% were Level V.

Researchers hope this new scale can calm public fears about sharks. Most attacks occur because of mistaken identity. They hope this new scale will also serve to educate ordinary people about the true nature of sharks, in addition to serving as a standard way to identify and treat injuries.

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Posted in Human Interest, Reconstructive Surgery | No Comments »

First near Full Face Transplant in the U.S. Deemed a Success

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Massive injuries to the face usually require several face lift surgery procedures to try and restore a sense of normalcy for patients.

But results from a five-year study by plastic surgery researchers at the Cleveland Clinic published in the January issue of the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery journal suggests facial transplants may be a workable alternative for those with extreme facial injuries.

A multidisciplinary team of plastic surgeons, psychiatrists, immunologists and bioethicists spent 5 years preparing for the procedure, starting the process in 2003. The team garnered the world’s first institutional board approval to perform a face transplant in humans in 2004. After years of arduous approval, research and preparation, surgeons successfully performed the first near-total face transplantation in the United States in December, 2008.

Using a composite allograft from a brain-dead donor, plastic surgeons successfully replaced 80% of the patient’s traumatic facial defect. The patient was a 45-year old woman who sustained a close-range blast from a shotgun and after several face lift surgery procedures, she still had major disabilities.

The donor’s facial allograft represented the largest, most complex facial allograft in the world and included the following: 535 cm2 of facial skin, functional units of a full nose including naval lining and bony skeleton, upper lip, lower eyelids along with underlying muscles and bones.

“We are pleased to report an excellent functional, psychological, and social outcome for our patient at 8 months following transplantation,” says Dr. Maria Z. Siemionow of the Cleveland Clinic.

Extensive physical therapy, rehabilitation and re-education for the patient took place after the pioneering face lift surgery procedure. After 8 months of recovery, the patient has regained most facial functions, including her sense of smell, speech and ability to eat solid foods and drink from a cup. Motion is recovering slowly but surely and the patient is increasingly confident about going out in public.

While the study was a success, researchers caution about the risks of facial transplants and express concern about moving too fast, especially after two similar procedures in France and China resulted in the patients’ death.

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Posted in Human Interest, Plastic/Cosmetic Surgery, Reconstructive Surgery | No Comments »

Compounds in Pomegranates May Prevent Spread of Breast Cancer – Study

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Six compounds found in pomegranates may prevent the spread of breast cancer in women according to research published in the January 1st issue of Cancer Prevention Research.

Breast cancer relies on hormones to spread – so blocking those hormones can conceivably contain the disease before it causes worse problems.

The particular hormone that compounds in pomegranates block is aromatase, which changes androgen to estrogen. Doctors caution though that these are preliminary results as no human or animal testing has taken place.

Researchers screened 10 compounds in a group known as ellagitannins for the study. The compound urolithin B (UB) was found to have the greatest impact, appearing to restrict mechanisms that produce estrogen and promote the growth of breast cancer. UB was also found to prevent estrogen responsive breast cancer cells from multiplying.

Other phytochemicals found in pomegranates that were shown to block aromatase to a lesser extent include: urolithin A (UA), methylated UA, acetylated UA, methylated UB and UB sulfate.

Doctors emphasize that more study is needed. In vitro (test tube) results don’t always translate to animals and humans. Pomegranates have these cancer fighting compounds – but the body may not absorb those compounds from the fruit in a way that makes a difference.

Nevertheless, you can reduce your risk of several types of cancer by eating a healthy diet that’s low in red meat, processed meat, saturated fats and salts and high in fiber, fruits and vegetables.

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