“This breakdown results in some biologically active substances, the toxicology of which has not been adequately evaluated.”The swelling associated with rupture of the implants could be due to local inflammatory response. For women who are worried, the Health Department has set up a help line, which will be open for the next three days, on 0800 004440.The latest warning will renew fears about the safety of all breast implants, which have been the subject of multi-million lawsuits in Britain and the US.The warning was issued by the Medical Devices Agency, which tests medical equipment. However, on the precautionary principle we consider that no more of these devices should be implanted.”Dr Metters said investigations were continuing so that further advice could be given to women who already had the implants. “It’s a natural oil put in an unnatural place and it’s not behaving in the way they thought it would.” Jeremy Metters, deputy Government Chief Medical Officer, said all women with the implants should consult their doctor for advice but there was no need for them to take immediate action unless they experienced symptoms.

“There has been no evidence of permanent injury or harm to health. However, silicone implants have been cleared after two government inquiries and an independent review.David Sharpe, chairman of the Breast Special Interest Group of the British Association of Plastic Surgeons, said: “It is quite worrying for patients with the implants, because they are the ones scared about silicone gel, so they are more sensitive to the issue.” In cases where the oil leaked and formed the “emulsified product like yoghurt” which collected in the breast, it could cause inflammation. Experts said the number of soya-oil types was about one in six of the total. Around 70 per cent of Trilucent implants were done privately. NHS hospitals and clinics were told not to use any more and to return stocks.The implants, introduced in 1995, were promoted by private cosmetic-surgery clinics after scares about the safety of the older, silicone gel devices. Although all types of implant are liable to rupture, when oil leaks from the Trilucent implants it appears to react with the body, producing “biologically active substances”.
About 8,000 women a year have breast implants.

BREAST IMPLANTS filled with soya oil given to 5,000 women to enhance their figures were withdrawn from sale yesterday because of fears that they could cause a toxic reaction. The Health Department issued a warning over Trilucent implants, which have been on the market for four years, after receiving 74 reports of “adverse incidents”. In some cases the implants ruptured, producing globules of an emulsified yoghurt-like substance causing swelling In a few instances they have become rancid and smelt. It should not reject men, she says, because they are victims of the system too. Rather, it should be a hearty babskoe dvizhenie (lasses’ movement) of capable and talented women, ready to help each other and do good in society.Pushkina believes there is no reason why a woman should not one day sit in the Kremlin.

The interview that gave her most satisfaction was with the democrat Galina Starovoitova, shortly before she was assassinated. Only after he was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison did she learn that he was a swindler. His downfall ruined her career too, for the Soviet authorities said she could not be trusted to travel abroad and denied her an exit visa.Hardship, however, has made Russian women strong and Pushkina believes the time is right for feminism in this most sexist of countries. Larisa Latynina, the woman who trained Soviet gymnasts including Olga Korbut, describes how her husband would go off on “business trips”, returning a few days later with large sums of money. She answers critics, who accuse her of banality and muck-raking, by claiming to give comfort: ordinary Russians recognise their own problems in the struggles of the stars and know that they are not alone.If Russian women had hard lives in Soviet times, when the Communists paid lip service to equality while sending them out to work in road gangs, then their lot has scarcely improved. The Russian woman still faces a low glass ceiling at work and does everything at home for the man who might, if she is lucky, wash the dishes on Women’s Day.The celebrities in Pushkina’s series probably had servants or dishwashers but their hearts were still broken by unfaithful men, who left them to bring up the children alone.