What is ASIA syndrome and why is it a worldwide trend?

People with silicone implants who suffer from symptoms such as migraine, fatigue, depression and joint or muscle discomfort, among others, could be suffering from ASIA Syndrome (Autoimmune/Autoinflammatory Syndrome Induced by Adjuvants).

The term, coined by researchers Nancy Agmon-Levin and Yehuda Shoenfeld, represents the body’s immune or inflammatory response to contact with foreign substances (adjuvants), such as silicone breast implants.

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However, this is a new condition and therefore requires further research and scientific evidence to ensure that the symptoms correspond with silicone prostheses.

According to the Argentinean Society of Mastology, the probabilities of ASIA Syndrome in bodies with silicone implants are very low. The Association also points out that this syndrome is not exclusive to people with breast prostheses, as there are other implants of medical use that can cause this medical condition.

ASIA Syndrome: the number of surgeries to remove silicone breast implants increases

In a statement issued by three Argentinean scientific associations and published by the Argentinean Society of Mastology, it is stated that, according to the investigations carried out, “there is no work with sufficient scientific evidence to relate rheumatic or autoimmune diseases directly with silicone”.

The statement, prepared by the Argentine Society of Plastic Surgery, the Argentine Society of Mastology and the Argentine Society of Rheumatology, was published in order to clarify the confusion of the public, expressed in different ways through social networks, about the possible diseases associated with silicone breast implants.

Although social networks have become a source of information, countless false advertisements with unscientific claims have been found. This can be highly detrimental, especially when the topics discussed compromise people’s health.

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In Colombia the ASIA Syndrome was also widely known through social networks, where several cases of celebrities, artists and influencers who decided to remove their breast implants as a preventive measure were published.

According to several surgeons in Colombia, the demand to remove breast implants in the country has increased. According to the president of the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Lina Triana, in the last year the surgery to remove breast implants had an increase of 22.6% and in recent years this increase was 49.6%, as presented by the newspaper La República.

In some cases, the requests respond to the symptoms described. In others, they are simply women who do not want to continue with these prostheses, either because they like them or because the implant is more than ten years old.

Among the symptoms of ASIA Syndrome that have been detected are chronic fatigue, joint and muscle pain, depression, insomnia, dry mouth and eyes, urinary infections, among others.

According to the newspaper La República, and despite the fact that there is still no scientific evidence, thousands of women affirmed that the symptoms disappear after the removal of the implants.

Diagnosis of ASIA Syndrome

For the medical community it is not easy to diagnose ASIA Syndrome in patients, so on many occasions they must study the clinical history and background to rule out other pathologies.

According to an article by Denisse Labastida, published in the academic publishing house Elsevier, “the diagnosis is complicated and involves exclusion”. The author explains that the diagnostic process is performed by applying the 12 criteria proposed by Agmon-Levin and Shoenfeld in 2011.

However, Labastida points out that the medical community has shown that this method has several shortcomings. “These criteria are not very specific, some of their components are not sufficiently defined or are too subjective to be measured efficiently”, reads the article.

It also notes that, “in clinical practice there would be very few cases of autoimmune diseases that could not be diagnosed as ASIA based on them”.

In view of the situation, over time new criteria have emerged that seek to make up for the shortcomings of the 12 Agmon-Levin and Shoenfeld criteria. One example is that of the internal medicine physician, Alijotas-Reig, who proposed other criteria for diagnosing ASIA syndrome, which use only objective clinical data as a source of information.

So far neither of the two criteria has been validated.

Despite the testimonies of people claiming to suffer from ASIA syndrome, the scientific community has not given a final word on the direct link between silicone implants and the disease, so the subject is a whole object of research that will lead scientists to continue their investigations and that the methods for diagnosing ASIA can be improved.

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