Breast augmentation without silicone rather than “soccer ball breasts”

July 26th, 2010

A while back there were detailed reports in the media about ex-soccer player and trainer Lothar Matthäus’ girlfriend’s silicone breast augmentation. Reports on silicone breast augmentations in famous people delude patients into thinking that silicone is the most up-to-date and ideal breast augmentation method, although thanks to state-of-the-art technology and stem cell research findings, silicone implants are no longer necessary in most cases!

Several clinical studies in Japan and the USA have since clearly demonstrated that stem cell-enriched autologous fat is an ideal, durable, and non-hazardous filler material, not only for post-operative breast reconstruction but also for cosmetic breast augmentation!

Augmentations by as much as 1 to 2 cup sizes are possible with breast augmentation with stem cell-enriched autologous fat – without scalpels, ugly scars, and general anesthesia. In stem cell-assisted breast augmentation, autologous fat is gently liposuctioned with microcannulas from the buttocks, belly, or hips, enriched with autologous stem cells, and then injected in the breasts. The punctures from the injections are comparable to those for taking blood and they heal without forming scars. The result is permanent. Stem cell-augmented breasts feel and look totally natural in any position because the augmentation consists of autologous, living cells, and no foreign objects capable of provoking rejections or slipping and bouncing up and down like soccer balls as you move are implanted in your body.

Heinrich, MD

Posted in Stem cells | No Comments »

Amy Winehouse and her “implant rupture”

July 5th, 2010

The media recently reported that vocalist Amy Winehouse suffered a breast implant rupture. A while ago she had had her breasts augmented with implants on a whim, and generated a great deal of media attention. Apparently she required another operation to replace the defective implant! But thanks to breast augmentation with autologous stem cells, “implant ruptures” and the “implant replacements” every few years associated with silicone implants are a thing of the past: Along with a natural appearance, what distinguishes breasts augmented with autologous stem cells is that they are “maintenance free”!

Along with the relatively rare rupture of a silicone implant, there are numerous other, much more common negative effects of artificial breast implants: Many women with silicone implants complain of pain while swimming or showering with cold water for years. So-called capsular fibrosis impairs the visual result and cause problems. With silicone breast augmentation, after a few years the breast stretches because of the implant and begins to sag, making an implant replacement necessary. This usually involves emplacement of larger implants in order to make the breast appear firmer. Many cases ultimately require a surgical breast tightening. Hence many stars in recent years have simply had their implants removed. But how can the volume be restored?

With autologous stem cells! Breast augmentation with stem cell-enriched autologous fat is a prime example of the substitution of minimally invasive surgical interventions under local anesthesia for plastic surgery. In early 2007, we used this revolutionary method in my Clinic DDr. Heinrich in Vienna for the first time in Europe. In this procedure, autologous fat is first extracted from the patient’s body using microcannular liposuction. Next this fat is enriched with autologous stem cells in a laboratory process and injected into the breast using fine hypodermic needles. Living, autologous tissue develops from the stem cells. Breasts thus augmented look as well as feel completely “genuine” in any position. They age completely naturally with the body.

Because autologous stem cells exert a local rejuvenating effect, another area of application in cosmetic medicine is the scalpel-free facelift, in which stems cell are injected in the face and neck region. The result is a long-lasting, natural and up to 15 years younger looking face. Another important area of application for stem cells looming on the horizon is the treatment of hair loss, which could soon make hair transplants superfluous.

Thanks to cosmetic interventions with stem cells, in many cases silicone, scalpels, and liftings are no longer necessary in breast and facial surgery. I believe that cosmetic medicine already has the means at hand to treat many physical beauty problems successfully, sustainably, and naturally with stem cell-enriched autologous fat.

Heinrich, MD

Posted in Stem cells | 1 Comment »

Overweight Germans: Study ignores hormones as cause

June 16th, 2010

It may be perfectly right that in the “Nutrition Survey” excess weight is associated with the educational background. However, a major cause has been ignored: Hormonal imbalances. If a person is overweight, in most cases too much or too little of individual hormones is produced. Although the original cause for this imbalance can often be found in one’s heating habits, this imbalance often makes efforts to lose weight by dieting alone little successful.

In men, a lack of hormones – specifically an underproduction of growth hormones – becomes manifest in the typical “love handles” being detrimental to a person’s attractiveness from the age of 40. In women, the lack of progesterone may be the reason why they become more and more voluptuous mainly around their belly and breasts from the age of 40.

Many people find it difficult to lose weight because they produce relatively too much cortisol or too little thyroid hormone. Hormonal imbalances often start with pregnancy, when women find it less difficult to lose weight than before.

After detailed analysis of the hormonal level, a treatment with bioidentical hormones is a possibility to regain the body’s balance and facilitate sustained weight reduction. This must of course be complemented by a customised diet with a reduced intake of carbohydrates, as well as adequate exercise!

Heinrich, MD

Posted in Hormones | 1 Comment »

Sex and the City – Samantha and the Hormones

June 2nd, 2010

In the current episode of SATC, Samantha Jones is rejuvenating herself with bioidentical hormones, which she takes at breakfast in the form of many colorful pills or applies as crèmes. “I’m 52, and when you’re 50, I’ll look like I’m 35,” she says to motivate her friends Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte. On a trip to Abu Dhabi, however, her hormone preparations get confiscated by customs as “drugs,” despite her insistence that they are merely “bioidentical and extracted from yams.”

Suddenly deprived of her hormonal fountain of youth, and in spite of the seductive, athletic men at the hotel pool, she soon suffers from no longer having any real desire for sex. And to top things off, when faced with imprisonment for kissing on the beach, she and her friends flee on the next flight back to the USA, “the land of freedom and hormones,” where thanks to melatonin, testosterone, etc., she can truly experience pleasure with her man from Abu Dhabi without any adverse physical or legal consequences.

Starting at around 40 years old, or even younger when under severe work-related stress, a bioidentical hormone regimen is highly recommended, as it can prevent many aging-induced limitations. Unlike in the past when doctors used to prescribe only synthetic sex hormones, which had certain side effects, with Hormonal Regeneration each deficient hormone is supplemented with bioidentical hormones, thus duplicating the hormone level of a young person. The overworked endocrine glands can thus cut back their own production and recover. The improvement of mental state and increase in performance thus achieved take effect very quickly, within a few weeks. A sustainable result with visible physical rejuvenation, however, requires several months of continuous optimum treatment by a specialist.

At any rate, Samantha would be well-advised to have her next treatment adjustment done in our Clinic DDr. Heinrich here in Vienna. Then she wouldn’t have to keep taking a whole handful of colorful pills at breakfast: Thanks to my research, there is now a bioidentical hormone combination preparation in which the daily dose of the most important bioidentical hormones are contained in a single capsule: Instant Chi by Clinic DDr. Heinrich. Samantha would need to take this capsule once a day five times a week. More intensive Hormonal Regeneration therapies also require routine injections. Moreover, we would give Samantha a doctor’s certificate for customs. Hence the next time she goes away on vacation, she’ll be able to get her hormone preparations through customs, as obviously it is important not to miss any doses when one is on a Hormonal Regeneration regimen.

Heinrich, MD

Posted in Hormones | 1 Comment »

An alternative to silicone, scalpels, and plastic – the case for a New Cosmetic Surgery

May 19th, 2010

As a cosmetic surgeon and anti-aging doctor in the general practice branch, for some time I have been critical of the repugnantly unnatural results that an unbridled zeal for plastic surgery is leaving behind on an increasing number of increasingly younger patients worldwide!

In some respects cosmetic surgery is in disorder, there’s no doubt about that! The problem, however, lies not with cosmetic surgeons who were not trained as plastic surgeons but still perform cosmetic surgery. Why shouldn’t they do so? After all, general practitioners and doctors in other specialties were key proponents of cosmetic surgery long before there ever was a plastic surgery specialty, which incidentally has only been existence in Austria for 20 years or so. But neither can cosmetic surgery be reserved for plastic surgeons, as it is generally known that they have had no more cosmetic surgery training in their hospital internships than any other doctor. Hence the plastic surgeon, just like the rest of us cosmetic surgeons, had to attend the “training courses” that Prof. Turkof (whom I highly respect) rightfully advocated in the article entitled “The Beauty Battlefield” (Schlachtfeld Schönheit) in Profil 36/08.

To a much greater extent the problem lies in the fact that plastic surgeons tend to favor methods involving operations, as their training focused on reconstructive surgery after tumors and accidents. From a surgical standpoint, however, such methods often entail grandiose performances that are too invasive and stressful for the subtle improvements in appearance and body shape demanded in cosmetic surgery. Hand in hand with unrealistic alteration wishes (take Michael Jackson, for example), the result is a high rate of complications as well as many patients with an overly-tightened, unnatural look.

For the well-being of the patients, what is needed is a New Cosmetic Surgery in which operations are gentle and non-invasive, and wherein scalpels, silicone, and plastic are dispensed with as much as possible! This New Cosmetic Surgery must be entrusted to doctors with extensive medical training and capable of thinking across disciplines; ones who won’t resort to plastic reconstructive operations as a primary means for solving every cosmetic problem caused by stress and hormone deficiencies.

This New Cosmetic Surgery exists already: it is based on minimally invasive cosmetic interventions, autologous stem cells, and bioidentical hormones. It spares women undergoing breast and facial surgery from scalpels, plastic, and silicone, produces natural looking results, and means a substantial improvement in health and quality of life!

Hollywood does indeed set trends in many areas, but even in Hollywood the era of overly tightened doll faces and silicone breasts is coming to an end. Many stars are turning away from plastic surgery and swear by the gentler methods of New Cosmetic Surgery! Hence we can be cautiously optimistic that in the future there will be less bloodshed on the “beauty battlefield”!

Heinrich, MD

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Why calorie restriction may cause aging

May 5th, 2010

The all too familiar theory that one can live longer through calorie restriction is often touted by the media as the only scientifically-based way to increase one’s lifespan. The main proponent and the one who came up with this theory, Roy Walford, died in 2004 at the age of 79, although he had expected to live well past 100. Due to malnutrition, he looked physically wasted and chronically ill. The same applies to his daughter, who also espouses her father’s theory and as a result looks like a chronically ill 60 year old, even though she is only around 40.

And they’re claiming that such a diet is healthy? Anybody who looks ill isn’t healthy! Among other things, a protein-deficient diet leads to insufficient quantities of hormones being produced. This not only causes the body to age faster, but also to die sooner due to lower resistance.

Many supposedly “natural” cosmetic and functional problems of aging are in fact symptoms of chronic deficiencies of certain hormones. A diet intended to slow down aging must therefore provide the nutrients, calories, and proteins needed for optimum hormone production. Furthermore, there is more and more evidence that intermittent fasting – as practiced in medicinal and religious traditions worldwide – may be advisable.

In New Cosmetic Surgery, we use bioidentical hormones to raise aging-induced low hormone levels back up to their individual optimum values, which frequently leads to a remarkable rejuvenation effect. Hence the widely-held assumption that rejuvenation is still an impossibility is not true – through the balanced use of bioidentical hormones, it can be achieved and experienced today! However, in some cases liposuction with microcannulas can help to get rid of the signs of aging. Aside from rejuvenation of the body, bioidentical hormones are one of the pillars of Weight Loss by DDr. Heinrich.

Heinrich, MD

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Q & A on breast augmentation with stem cell-enriched autologous fat

April 17th, 2010

Q: How long have you been using stem cells for breast augmentation?

A: Since 2006.

Q: What kind of stem cell do you use?

A: Only adult stem cells extracted from the patient’s own fat.

Q: Could you explain how is done?

A: First we harvest fat with microcannulas that do not leave scars from fat deposits on the patient’s body. From the harvested fat we take one portion and isolate stem cells from it using special patented laboratory technology. Then we mix these stem cells with the other portion of fat that has been already specially prepared for injection and implant it with fine cannulas into the breast. The surgery is done completely under local anaesthesia and the patient is then ready to go home.

Q: What kind of results are you obtaining?

A: Excellent, durable results. 90 % long-term satisfaction rate, completely natural augmented breasts that look natural in every position and in movement, exercising, etc.

Q: How long does it take to see the first changes? Can they be seen immediately?

A: The augmentation of the breast can be seen immediately; after the swelling resolves three weeks after the surgery the final result is visible. Minor changes (small increase or small decrease) are possible in the first months.

Q: How many women have been treated using stem cell-enriched autologous fat.

A: Since 2003 worldwide many thousand women have undergone this procedure, especially in Japan.

Q: What are the main indications? Can this method be used for any case or not?

A: We can use it in any indication of cosmetic breast augmentation or breast reconstruction with excellent results instead of silicon. An augmentation of one cup size per surgery is typically achieved. Augmentation bigger than 1.5 or 2 cup sizes in just one procedure are only achieved in women with a little bit flabby breasts (like after breastfeeding and childbirth), because the flexibility allows for more volume of stem cell-enriched fat to be injected than in tighter breasts. Also slim women can be treated successfully. Very slim women who desire very big and unnatural augmentations still need to rely on silicon.

Q: What are the advantages of the technique?

A: A smooth, minimally invasive surgical technique, silicon-free, scar-free, completely natural augmented breasts – the technique is especially recommendable for women who do want a little bit body sculpturing at the same time. The technique also visibly rejuvenates the breasts of women over 40 due to the high content of stem cells in the implanted fat. The technique is also used for facial rejuvenation and – being an important tool of “New Cosmetic Surgery” – for facelift without scalpel as well as rejuvenation of hands, décolleté, etc.

Q: Could you give me the name of other researchers in this area around the world?

A: Dr. Yoshimura of Cellport Clinic would be one of them, Dr. Kamakura of Kyushu Hospital another one. Both work in Tokyo.

Heinrich, MD

Posted in Stem cells | No Comments »

Testosterone hormone therapy for men

April 13th, 2010

Whether men should be given testosterone after a certain age or whether doing so would be considered as malpractice is still a hotly debated issue among medical specialists in Austria. At leading professional conferences in other countries, however, the discussion tends to focus more on “when to start” and what the dose should be when it comes to hormonal regeneration.

It has been a known fact for some time that many esthetic and health problems related to aging are directly linked to hormone deficiencies and hence should logically be treated with well-thought-out substitution. This also applies to the spectrum of “burn-out” disorders in persons over 30 years old, because “burn-out” is merely a term describing a condition in which the endocrine glands become overworked and worn out from chronic stress.

The use of bioidentical hormones with molecular structures identical to those of the “real” hormones is important in a well-thought-out hormonal regeneration; as is the balancing of the substituted hormones with all other hormones in the body, as the latter are cybernetically linked with each other. For example, administering only testosterone to men or only estrogen to women can lead to hormonal imbalances, which can cause all kinds of side effects.

Obviously a hormonal regeneration must always take place under a medical specialist’s supervision, in order to ensure that there is no testicular shrinkage!

Heinrich, MD

Posted in Hormones | No Comments »

Autologous tissue is safer than silicone and more durable than Macrolane!

March 27th, 2010

In addition to being foreign objects and looking unnatural, silicone implants have several other serious disadvantages: Did you know that women with silicone implants often have pains for years if they go swimming in cool water or take cold showers? Visible scars are unavoidable with implants, and worst of all the breast wears out after a few years from the weight of the implant, requiring breast tightening operations with implant replacement. At the present time no doctor knows what effect the minute amounts of silicone released from the implant over decades may have on the body. Even if there is no proof that it causes cancer or may be toxic, caution is advisable! Autologous tissue is safer than foreign objects!

With Macrolane, hyaluronic acid is injected in nut-sized deposits through small incisions below the breast. This means that new incisions have to be made for each new injection, which obviously leave visible scars. The nut-sized deposits can be felt as hard spots in the breasts, hence Macrolane is not suitable for every breast.

As to the cost of the procedure: With the manufacturer, Qmed, charging doctors € 350 (!) for 10 ml of Macrolane, it is easy to calculate that the price for a standard augmentation of 200 ml per side would be ca. € 14,000, plus surgeon’s fees, anesthesiologist’s fees, operating room fees, etc. Who wants to pay that much every 2 years?

The New Cosmetic Surgery, which I advocate and for which patients come to me in Vienna from all over the world, even Beverly Hills, spares women undergoing breast and facial procedures from scalpels, plastic, and silicone and means a considerable improvement of health and quality of life!

No medical procedure is entirely risk-free, but any women can intuitively see that there is more potential danger from a foreign object than from autologous tissue.

Gentle breast augmentation with stem cell-enriched autologous fat is an alternative to silicone and hyaluronic acid: Clinical studies from Japan and the USA have since shown that stem cell-enriched autologous fat is an ideal, durable, and safe filler material not only for breast reconstruction, for exmple after cancer operations, but also for cosmetic breast augmentation!

Among the several thousand patients worldwide treated thus far, not a single case of “tissue proliferation” or “non-healing” has been documented, as is sometimes postulated without study results to back it up. It sounds suspicious that these “risks” are merely defensive statements on the part of those plastic surgeons who know nothing of the stem cell method and see it as a threat to their “quick incision” (operation time for silicone implants: 15 minutes) business.

This procedure is very time consuming and hence does not allow the surgeon a “quick incision.” Nevertheless, it produces the best possible results for the patient – the autologous stem cell-augmented breasts look and feel completely natural in any position and in movement because living fat tissue develops from the injected stem cells. This method leaves no visible scars.

Heinrich, MD

Posted in Stem cells | No Comments »

Silicone “careers” and the consequences

March 6th, 2010

I was recently consulted by a patient whose breasts were worn and stretched out of shape after several implants, and she was suffering as a result. As by their very nature the implants covered very few soft parts and their weight had caused her breasts to stretch more and more, increasingly larger implants were needed after the initial implants, which made the thinning and stretching problem worse.

This is a constantly recurring problem with silicone implants. Just a few days ago the director of a German clinic contacted me regarding a similar case. He asked me whether stem cell-enriched autologous fat transfer could help here.

Implants are obviously always palpable, in most cases also visible, and they stretch the breast tissue; it is necessary to explain to every patient that after a few years implants need to be replaced for the sake of appearance because of stretching of the breast tissue, and that follow-up operations must therefore be reckoned with. This means that if one doesn’t want oversized, soccer ball-like breasts, they must be tightened by reduction surgery in order to make them (restore them to) a reasonable size.

I believe that after surgical tightening there are two options for achieving a better appearance:

Breast augmentation using only stem cell-enriched autologous fat. Obviously the augmentation won’t be as impressive, but it will look a lot more natural. This would be the way to go if the patient is generally unhappy with her implants and wants to get rid of them at all costs.

Inserting new implants and attempting to fill out/round out the edges of the implants as well as the subcutaneous tissue in the breast/chest region with stem cell-enriched autologous fat. The augmentation by the implant is maintained without having to displace as much volume.

Because the only way to solve the problem of further tissue stretching by the implant is to refrain from more implants, I prefer the first option, even though the augmentation is less striking than with silicone. However, the breasts stay in shape and the patient can enjoy them for years to come without having to plan on expensive follow-up operations that are fraught with complications.

Shouldn’t silicone implants be dispensed with altogether? That is precisely the question.

Heinrich, MD

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

« Older Entries