In this podcast episode, Dr. Robert Whitfield, a board-certified plastic surgeon specializing in breast implant illness (BII), and Dr. Mithun Sinha, a PhD scientist, discuss the complexities of Breast Implant Illness. Dr. Whitfield shares his clinical experiences and emphasizes the importance of understanding the symptoms and experiences of women affected by Breast Implant Illness and Dr. Sinha provides scientific insights into the role of fatty acids, bacteria, and biofilm formation concerning breast implants, explaining how these factors contribute to symptoms like fatigue and brain fog. Be sure to tune in to hear more!

Show Highlights:

Role of Fatty Acids in Cell Structure (00:01:51 )

The importance of fatty acids in cellular stability and protection

Interaction of Fatty Acids and Implants (00:03:20 )

Discussion on how fatty acids interact with breast implants and surrounding tissue

Formation of 10 Home and Biofilms (00:05:20 )

Dr. Sinha describes how oleic acid transforms into 10 Home, linked to bacterial biofilms.

Scar Capsule and Bacterial Colonization (00:06:40 )

Exploration of how the scar capsule provides a habitat for bacteria to form biofilms

Historical Perspective on Surgical Techniques (00:12:40 )

Dr. Whitfield shares his experience with surgical techniques for patients with breast implant illness.

Importance of Research on BII (00:13:41 )

Lack of attention to women suffering from BII and the need for better care

Introduction to Oxaliplatin Home Research (00:14:54 )

Dr. Sinha introduces his new paper on oxaliplatin home and its link to inflammation

Oxidation and Its Effects on the Body (00:16:04 )

Dr. Sinha explains how oxidation increases during stress and exercise, affecting health

Potential Biomarkers for BII Symptoms (00:17:38 )

Discussion on identifying biomarkers to predict and assess symptoms in BII patients

Characterizing Bacterial Contamination (00:19:54 )

Dr. Whitfield discusses the need to characterize bacterial contamination in patients with implants.

Read Dr. Mithun Sinha’s paper in The Aesthetic Surgery Journal.

Oxylipins in Breast Implant–Associated Systemic Symptoms

Bio. Mithun Sinha, PhD

Dr. Sinha is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery at the Indiana University School of Medicine. His laboratory specializes in the field of bacterial biofilm research. The investigations are focused on implant-associated complications due to biofilms and wound healing complications. These include breast implant-associated systemic immunological manifestations, dental implant-associated peri-implantitis, and orthopedic implant-associated osteomalacia. Studies also include wound healing studies exploring host-biofilm-mediated metabolites. His laboratory explores the development of implant-based biomaterials for their anti-biofilm properties. Over the years, he has actively collaborated with surgeons and chemical and material science engineers. He has been continually funded by NIH and currently have two active grants from NIH as PI (R01 and R21). He has also served/serving on 4 NIH grants as Co-Investigator. He has published 45 articles in peer-reviewed journals, with a Google Scholar citation of 2600+ and an h-index of 20. Seven of his publications have been cited 100+ times. A recent study from his lab on breast implant-associated immunological complications published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (PMID: 38032740) has received editorial-type commentary from the peer community (PMID: 38299590). In addition to being a researcher, he has served as a reviewer for 15+ peer-reviewed journals. He also serves as Associate Editor for the journal RNA Biology and as an ad-hoc member of the NIH study section and Plastic Surgery Foundation (PSF) study panels.

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