Robert Whitfield MD explains why some people react badly to breast implants. Genetic factors like impaired vitamin D metabolism, poor methylation, and weak antioxidant pathways increase susceptibility to chronic inflammation. His treatment approach shifted from surgery alone to addressing underlying inflammation causes before implant removal.
I started taking care of patients with breast implant illness in approximately 2016, and at that point, given my experience with implant based problems, surgery was the number one treatment option for patients with breast implant infections. What would become breast implant illness to me? Fast forward to 2023 and we have a much, much different program. We use my holistic accelerated recovery program prior to surgery, and it's rooted in determining causes outcome outside of implant based causes that are leading to chronic inflammation. So when we look at everyone's genetics, certain genetic archetypes predispose you to more problems with inflammation. So if your vitamin D metabolism is poor, if you have a poor methylation pathway, if you have limited ability to perform binding with glutathione in your liver, if you have poor antioxidant pathways, you're more susceptible to problems with chronic inflammation.
