Just read an interesting story on CNN regarding a practice of medicine called “Age Management”.

What is age management? On its Web site, American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine refers to “the arcane, outmoded stance that aging is natural and inevitable” and says “the disabilies associated with normal aging are caused by physiological dysfunction.” This is quite controversial and the American Medical Association does not consider anti-aging an official medical practice or specialty.

According to CNN the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine which was founded in 1993 to support research on extending life and treating age-related disease, claims 19,000 members in 90 countries and claims that membership has nearly doubled in the past five years.

According to Stuff.co.nz there is a movement among some cosmetic surgeons to implement regulations against “cowboy” doctors or those in the industry that practice with little or no experience.

GPs, dermatologists and general surgeons are jumping on the cosmetic surgery bandwagon, many without the necessary skills to deal with any complications that may arise during a procedure said New Zealand Foundation for Cosmetic Plastic Surgery president Tristan de Chalain.

In Australia, the Victoria Medical Practitioners Board is drafting guidelines aimed at stopping doctors exaggerating their expertise and also banning “before” and “after” photos in advertising.  Tristan de Chalain explained that patients were being misled by false advertising which featured airbrushed models or results that could never be achieved by the treatment being promoted.

iVillage recently ran slideshow of some famous celebrity
cosmetic surgeries with before & after photos and polls to see if the
before or after was preferred by their users. Some of the questions posed, like
Jennifer Anniston’s recent nose job could go either way, but some of them like
Michael Jackson or Melanie Griffith are just awful. They’ve gone too far. Take
a look below and decide for yourself.

The GOOD - Pamela Anderson - Jessica Simpson - Adrianne Curry - Tori Spelling - Sharon Osbourne - Ashlee Simpson - Halle Berry - Jennifer Aniston

This just isn’t what you want to hear.  On a recent visit to a Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon Tom Jons was told by a surgeon to be “careful with his eyes” and to consider not doing anything else so as to look as natural as possible.

“He advised me against having anything else done,” reveals Jones, in an exclusive interview with the Daily Mirror.

“He told me: ‘Your eyes will be bloody popping.’ He said I should try to look as natural as I can.”  “I’ve had some nips and tucks,” he admits, with a laugh.

A recently released transcript from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation discusses how scientists are regrowing skin and cartilage in the laboratory and using it to repair human bodies.   Reseachers in Melbourne will be opening a lab tomorrow the goals of regrowing fat in the body.  This is exciting news for victims of diseases like breast cancer.

Some excerpts from the transcript:

“BEN KNIGHT: But now, researchers at this Melbourne laboratory say they’re close to being able to give women like Yvonne another option, to literally grow themselves a new breast inside their own body.

According to the ASPS there were 1.1 million cosmetic procedures performed on men in the year 2006.  This is a 7% decline from the previous year 2005 and accounted for 9% of all cosmetic surgeries performed during 2006.

Of the procedures performed on men the top 5 surgeries were nose reshaping, eyelid surgery, liposuction, hair transplantation, and breast reduction.  Of these procedures there were drastic shifts between the year 2000 and 2006.  The number of liposuctions performed on men dropped by 32% and the number of facelifts performed dropped by 39%.  Male breast reductions performed during this time shifted in the opposite direction increasing by 22%.

More than 325,000 tummy tuck, breast augmentation and lifts were performed on women between the ages of 20-39 in 2006, according to stats released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).  This 11% increase in procedures over 2005 in “Mommy Makeover” procedures is roughly 5 times more than the increase in overall cosmetic surgeries during the same time span.

A cosmetic procedure called a “Mommy Makeover” includes breast augmentation, tummy tuck and breast lift.  These procedures rank first, fourth and fifth respectively among all cosmetic surgeries performed on women between the ages of 20 and 39 in 2006.

Apparently State Rep. Phyllis Kahn is of the impression that those of us that are more fortunate than others should have to pay for it. According to Kare11.com:

“State Rep. Phyllis Kahn is pushing to extend Minnesota’s 6.5 percent sales tax to cosmetic surgery and appearance-enhancing procedures including chemical skin peels, laser hair removal, cosmetic injections and spider vein treatments.”

Okay, fine…But, why do you ask?

“‘Anybody who has the money for plastic surgery can afford to pay the tax, said Kahn, a Minneapolis Democrat.’ There aren’t a lot of homeless people and there aren’t a lot of people who don’t have enough money for food who are getting optional cosmetic surgery,” she said.”