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Health Check: Is Cosmetic Surgery Selling Unrealistic Body Goals?

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Healthcheck

2017/06/28 GMT

Is Cosmetic Surgery Selling Unrealistic Body Goals?

BBC World Service - Health Check, Is Cosmetic Surgery Selling Unrealistic Body Goals?

Do people have unnecessary cosmetic surgery - that does not improve their self-esteem?

Ethical concerns over cosmetic surgery; yellow fever in Brazil; neurogenesis and depression.

There’s big money in cosmetic surgery – figures for 2015 suggest that more than 21 million surgical and non-surgical procedures were carried out on people who wanted to change how they look.  A new British report highlights ethical concerns including how children are exposed to unrealistic body images online.  Professor Nichola Rumsey says social media should fund research into the long-term psychological impact of undergoing cosmetic procedures. 

In Brazil the worst outbreak of yellow fever in decades has killed two hundred and forty people. Although there’s an effective vaccine it’s only produced in four countries and any shortages leave people at risk. Now scientists in Rio de Janeiro are trying to find out if a lower dose of the vaccine can be just as effective – to make stocks go further. 

Neurogenesis is the process where we create new brain cells and it continues throughout our lives in an area called the hippocampus.   Some neuroscientists believe that if someone has depression then neurogenesis is reduced. It's early days, but some hope that this idea could lead to the discovery of new drugs for depression - which don't tackle mood, but which encourage the creation of new brain cells. 


(Photo: Getty Images)

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