Is Cosmetic Surgery Selling Unrealistic Body Goals?
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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Ethical concerns behind the boom in cosmetic surgery
Duration: 02:14
Broadcasts
- Wed 28 Jun 201719:32GMTBBC World Service except News Internet
- Thu 29 Jun 201702:32GMTBBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean
- Thu 29 Jun 201704:32GMTBBC World Service except Americas and the Caribbean, East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Thu 29 Jun 201706:32GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa
- Thu 29 Jun 201713:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia
- Sat 1 Jul 201723:32GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
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