resemble anything like it. a few years later, beth got engaged, but she was so self—conscious she never even that her fiancee see her naked. he was offended at that point as well. he was like, how can you not trust me? so i guess that caused a few problems, intimately? it was kind of self—loathing, i suppose. i was just not comfortable with him seeing them as they were, and ijust really felt like... ..deficient in being a woman. and it was in the build—up to their wedding that she decided to take the plunge. i knew that having the breast implants would make me feel a bit differently about things. millions of women around the world never experience any problems with breast implants, which are still the most popular choice when it comes to cosmetic surgery. women have been getting them

since the early ‘60s, and they can set you back up to £8,000. after her surgery, beth felt great. she had new boobs and a new husband. but it wasn't long before she started having problems. 18 months on, and she was getting unexplained pains, followed by fatigue, muscle spasms, numbness and anxiety. my knees hurt, my hip hurt, my lower back hurt. and they were all things which had never been a problem for me previously. and i thought i'm quite a stoic person in general anyway, so it actually takes a lot for me to actually instigate going to the doctors in the first place. with, you know, just over—the—counter medicines i couldn't control my pain any more. beth has been going back and forth to the doctors for nearly a decade, but they still can't agree on what is causing her symptoms. there was one mri of my spine which came back and it described my spine as pristine. and at that point i guess

you should be grateful, but i was really sort of incensed by it because i thought, it's not, i can feel there is a pain, and i know there's something going on. but it began to make me feel like i was a bit crazy. and it knocks your confidence a little as well. she's been prescribed everything from painkillers to antidepressants. but after doing her own research online, she is convinced her symptoms are being caused by her implants. yeah, there are times when i do have a cry about it. there are times where i'm just... i feel so let down by my body. my family probably see the worst sides of me, and that upsets me. my beautiful girls just deserve better than that, really. and, you know, it's not for want of trying that i'm not able to deliver on that, really. so how is it that something like a breast implant, in theory, can put someone in the same position as beth?

well, we've come to body worlds in london to come to dr dan marsh, who is a plastic surgeon. you've very kindly come out of surgery for us today, to bring along some implants and show us about them. just tell me exactly what they are. an implant is basically made of silicon, so you've got a silicon shell, inside this you've got a sticky silicon gel — it's fairly gooey. so if you were to cut the implant in half, all the gel would sit where it stays. a breast implant is usually placed through an incision under the breast. the implant can go either in front of the muscle or behind the pec muscle. people often think the implant goes into the breast — it actually goes behind the breast, so all of your breast tissue sits in front of the implant. so how is it that something like that could potentially cause breast implant illness? i think the honest answer to that is we don't really know what causes it. the jury is still out on whether breast implant illness is a thing, it exists. we think that it's the body's reaction to the silicon. but silicon is present and lots of medical devices — cardiac pacemakers, hip joints, knee joints.

there aren't people walking around with hipjoint associated illness, knee joint associated illness. so we don't really know exactly what it is that is associated with breast implants that can cause the illness. as for beth, she is now in so much pain she's not sure how much longer she deal with it. just checking in and reporting a tricky day. just so much pain. oh, my god... ijust wanted to curl up in a ball. i still want to curl up in a ball, and i'm going to in a minute. burning sensation in my hip and back, and... general fatigue and joints aching and a cracking, stonking headache as well. so i'm hoping today is going to be... today? tomorrow is going to be a better one. we'll see. we'll see — hope so. i don't think i can take too many more like this. anyway, i'm going to sign off now.

nighty night, bye—bye. something beth is considering is having her implants taken out. but could that help her? we are here to meet melina. she's already had her breast implants removed — or explanted, as it's also known. we are going to find out how she's getting on. explanting is a risk. it involves going back in for more surgery. your boobs will obviously get smaller again, and there is no guarantee it will get rid of your symptoms. so let's go back to the beginning — where did this all start? why did you have your implants in the first place? i was modelling at the time, and for me it was a, you know, my boobs don't look good enough for this type ofjob. i wanted to get them done. i already had quite large breasts anyway. they were big. let's see some of the photographs, then, from when you were in your modelling days. what size where they

when you had them done? iwasa32 g. wow. i was having a great time with them. i was working, i was getting a lot of work. i got pregnant, had my first baby. that's when the symptoms really started. everything i came in contact with i had a reaction. body wash, my creams, and i could literally have a piece of bread and i would be coming out in a rash at my arms, my shoulders. in the end ijust stopped, like, eating. like, i wasjust so afraid to put something in my mouth without having to feel sick. but i never, ever, ever would have thought it was my implants. you just don't put that together. you know, you think the worst — like, i have breast cancer, like, i'm dying, there is something wrong with me. and i kept telling my doctors, i said, there is something wrong with me, there really is, i know.

i can't get out of bed in the morning. it was a struggle just to get up and take my daughter to school. and then the brain fog — i mean, i couldn't concentrate, i couldn't work, i had to read the same sentence over and over again. just about managed to put her to school, come back, and then literally just sleep. i just slept all day long. and at this point i thought, like... i'm dying, i'm really dying, there's something... and it's really horrible but nobody would listen to me, and it wasn't until a girl on instagram — this is the power of social media — she told me about this and this group on facebook, and it was like, oh, my god! i have breast implant illness! it's my implants! there was no doubt in my mind that this is it. melina says she had to sell her jewelry to pay to get her implants removed, and she thinks the difference was instant. that brain fog that was sitting on top of my

eyes had gone. and the rashes were literally disappearing in front of my eyes, they were just gone. so, for me, it was not like, oh, we'll see what happens — it literally happened right after i had them out. so melina's story is proof that her implants were the problem. or is it? if you feel better, i'll believe you. but i have to say, it's in your head, it's not in your breasts. we do not have a scientific link which proves that these are caused by implants. there is no proven breast implant illness. it's a description which people use to describe a number of various symptoms. there is a publication recently where two women had very similar symptoms — one had had cosmetic implants, the other had had implants for reconstruction. the patient who had had cosmetic implants had them removed and claimed

that she felt better. the other woman decided she didn't want to have them removed, and she also felt better. the key question here is, are those symptoms related to breast implants? it is the biggest question we have in our practice, and that is where we lack any evidence. you hear patients who say, you know, i've got breast implant illness, i'm having my implant out tomorrow. they are then interviewed, sometimes on television, and they go, i've had my implant out and i feel great. but any scientist would tell you that if the illness is related to a problem with the silicon, it doesn't switch off the moment that the silicon implant is removed. and so that makes you very suspicious that we don't know enough about what is going on. this is something globally which needs more research. it is such a nebulous group of symptoms that it's really difficult to come

up with a good way of running some scientific research. is there a true link? and what is the best treatment or management for these patients? and how do we diagnose them? we know that there are women who have breast implants who feel unwell with them. what is unknown is whether it is cause and effect or whether there are other things that are going on in their lives as well. and if it does affect you, make sure that you get good advice and, i think, really get psychological support before you rush into having your implants out. look at the whole picture. we are doctors, we are supposed to look at the whole patient, not just the small breasts. but despite what the surgeons say, melina has got no regrets.

0bviously, all those years ago, you loved having bigger boots, you loved having bigger boobs, and they gave you so much confidence. but now you haven't got them, are you still as confident as you are? yes. a lot more, actually, yeah. i mean, look at this — this is what i used to have to buy, something massive... but i mean, yeah... it looks like a parachute, you know? it's just... and there's not a lot of options, then, is there? no. i love my boobs as they are now. ijust love the feeling of being natural. yeah. and i have scars. i have anchor scar from here to here. and i've got a scar there, and i've got a scar around my nipple. so i'm filled with scars but i have never felt more sexy and more confident as i am now. so i know a lot of girls are probably scared to take them out because of how they are going to look and feel, but i wouldn't be scared of the feeling after because the minute you start feeling better, you start feeling more confident anyway.

i don't even care what size they are because i'm healthy, you know? and i think, ultimately, that's what all the women want. oh, wow! amazing! how do you feel in it? i feel great. i mean, this is a halterneck, so normally that would hurt like hell. and you feel great in it, you feel confident? yeah, i feel good. i mean, i'm in the shop, but... love it. it only takes a quick search on social media to find breast implant illness groups with tens of thousands of women in. they are frustrated with being told it might all be in their mind when they are convinced the problem is there breast implants. they feel like they are being ignored. the uk has been accused by some experts of not taking breast implant

illness seriously enough. research into it is being made a priority in countries like australia, the usa and some parts of europe. so we have flown to holland, one of the places where surgeons have to warn their patients about it. hello. nice to meet you. please come in. yan is a scientist and is one of the main voices speaking up in support of breast implant illness. he has spent over 25 years researching it. we've spoken to surgeons in the uk who say they do believe that women have got the symptoms they are describing, but they're not certain it's related to breast implant illness. what do you make of that? i think that we have sufficient evidence to show that breast implant illness is caused by the breast implants. the immune system tries to remove foreign bodies, and that is of course what you have the immune system for. this is not to say that you get an autoimmune disease because you have silicon breast implants — it is you have the genetics to develop an autoimmune disease

like rheumatoid arthritis oi’ multiple sclerosis, and then in combination with certain environmentalfactors — and silicon breast implants is one of those environmental factors — you have an increased risk to develop that disease at an earlier age and more severe. you can see that the immune system is activated, you can demonstrate it in biopsies, you can demonstrate it the blood by doing lab tests. what more proof do we need before we say that this breast implant illness is due to the silicon implantation? in some countries then, the surgeons — holland, for one example — they are asked to tell patients, warn patients of these possible breast implant illness symptoms when they go in for their initial consultations. that's not something that they do in the uk. no, that's wrong. the uk is wrong for that. so now also in the united states there is a black box warning for plastic surgeons to inform

patients that breast implant illness could be induced by breast implant surgery. and that should be done in every country. are we lagging behind a little bit then, in the way that we deal with it? i think so, yes. women have the right to know what they are going to do. so the information is crucial. we've come back to see beth, who has decided to take the risk and get her implants removed. she is getting ready to head to the hospital. so we are due to arrive there at about 7:30. a perfect outcome would be that i gain my health back and also she is able to leave my breasts in a form where i'm coming out, contented, reasonably. i don't really care how big they are, but i just want to feel that they are... that word again — normal.

i'm really nervous, to be honest. i didn't think i would be, i'm quite... you know, before they were actually put in i had a few butterflies, but not anything like this. but, of course, the stakes are a lot higher this time. i've got two children. yeah... a bit emotional. for you, afterwards, as a husband, what about you? well, in the short term i'll be doing the cooking, housework — no different, then! no, sorry — i'll answer that properly. it'll be amazing. ican't rememberwhen you weren't in pain. i don't know even what that looks like. i'm so proud of the way that you've got on with it, really. because a lot of people would have fallen off a cliff by now, do you know what i mean, and dropped off

and not been able to function. so to do the things you do makes me proud of you. and i'm just so hopeful that this is the solution. to be fair, even the surgeon today was still very, like,... very guarded. there are no, there is no proof about this, but we are kind of... she did acknowledge that that's the case, yet... there could be issues further down the line, and we don't know these things yet. but there was an element of, we are doing this for your peace of mind, not for your physical health. so, beth, you've been in surgery for a few hours, and a little bit of recovery time — how are you feeling now? yeah, relatively good.

i'm on quite a lot of pain relief, but i guess that was to be expected. and do you feel any different? you are on painkillers at the moment, but at the moment do you feel any different? i feel quite clear—headed considering the level of drugs that i'm on. and i think some of that is probably excitement. and you don't have any, sort of, sad feelings that they are now gone? not at this stage. i guess i haven't had that... i haven't been confronted with their appearance yet. but the two ladies who were looking after me post surgery said what a lovely result had been achieved already, so i think i've probably got a little more breast tissue then i anticipated. so, yeah, i'm looking forward to seeing them at some point. notjust yet! but, yeah, i'm just so happy i'm kind of through to the healing phase. yeah. and i can hopefully

get my life back on track a bit. while most women live happily with implants and will never have to face what beth has gone through, should the government be doing more to support others like her? we asked the department of health — they didn't reply. but in the build—up to the december 2019 election we met the then shadow health minister, sharon hodgson. at the moment, when a woman signed the consent form to have a breast implant operation, they don't have to be given implant operation, they don't have to be given all implant operation, they don't have to be given all of implant operation, they don't have to be given all of this implant operation, they don't have to be given all of this information. and i believe that's wrong. i think on that consent form it should go into details of breast implant illness, what it means, the percentage, the worst case scenario. surely a woman deserves that. the least they should be given is the full details of what may happen, so then they can make an informed choice and then, if they are one of

the percentages where it does go wrong, they will know straightaway, they will be looking out for it. they won't be going back and forward to the doctors and going on this merry—go—round that so many women that you've spoken to have been on. that is just wrong. that you've spoken to have been on. that isjust wrong. one of that you've spoken to have been on. that is just wrong. one of the surgeons we spoke to said he can't possibly warn women about these symptoms because he doesn't know for sure that it exists. this is real. all of these women, their symptoms disappear when they have the implants taken out. that proves what is causing their symptoms. surgeons need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask themselves why they believe it doesn't exist. because they should be telling them before they sign on that dotted line. it has been a few weeks now since we last saw bethan she has asked us to come and meet in the gym, which i'm guessing is good thing.

so we are in the gym now, it's something you could have any dreams of when you are in a lot of pain with your implants. how does it feel now? brilliant, it isjust freedom, absolute freedom. in terms of the joint pain, i still have a bit, but i've come off my main nerve agent ta blets, i've come off my main nerve agent tablets, and i'm just on paracetamol. so i couldn't have functioned before. and do you think it has all happened as quickly as you hoped? yeah, i think realistically i had those implants in the 12 or13 realistically i had those implants in the 12 or 13 years, so i can't expect everything to go overnight. and things are complicated. my key to happiness in life is your health. i will never take that for granted again. so for those people out there that think breast implant illness is

not real, what would you say to them now? i think when you think about it it is totally to think it could cause your system some disruption. soi cause your system some disruption. so i think the people who are coming up so i think the people who are coming up against breast implant illness are the ones with a interest, often it is surgeons when it is the bread—and—butter, and the medical device industry in general has a lot to lose. it is just scary. scary, what was set in my body for that long! for beth, her life is getting back on track. at the moment there is no way of knowing exactly how many women are living with near permanent pain like she was just a few months ago. if social media is anything to go by, though, it could be hundreds of thousands. acknowledgements of breast implant illness and further research into it is starting to happen, that unless the professionals can agree whether it truly exists or not, it is hard to see how there can be any real change.

0ver over the coming weeks, wet and windy weather is never too far away from our shores. through friday we had a brief lull in proceedings with many areas remaining dry with a good deal of sunshine on offer. but it is turning and settled into the weekend. why? there is a contrast in temperatures across america which is helping to energise the jet stream, and where we see other undulations that allows low pressure systems to form, thejet that allows low pressure systems to form, the jet stream then acts like a co nveyor form, the jet stream then acts like a conveyor belt and sends these low— pressure a conveyor belt and sends these low—pressure systems our way. we start saturday with a band of rain stretching out of northern ireland and up to scotland, slipping into northern england. it is a company by strong winds, particularly for parts of scotland, northern england and north wales. it is wendy across the

board but largely fine and dry the further south you go, with a fair amount of cloud. fresh conditions follow with a few showers, some could be wintry. away from the finals of scotland it will feel noticeably milder, many areas seek those temperatures in double digits. as we had three saturday into sunday, here is the weather front gradually squeezing out the milder air, cooler conditions follow behind. we begin with quite a contrast in temperatures, where we keep the cloud and the outbreaks of rain and the stronger winds to the south—east temperatures will not drop so far. that wet and windy weather gradually sinks south—eastwards. behind it we are in fresher conditions. some sunshine but some showers as well, which could be wintry over the high ground of scotland. some sunshine to compensate for the difference in temperatures on sunday. next week,

more unsettled conditions. we will begin monday on a fine, dry note but waiting in the wings is another area of low pressure and that will start to make inroads as we head through monday. a bright start, some sunshine, largely dry but as the day goes on it will cloud overfrom sunshine, largely dry but as the day goes on it will cloud over from the west as the rain starts to me then accompanied by strong winds, gales for some western areas through the day on monday. temperatures, still a little above average for the time of year. we are sticking with the mild theme as we had three next week. 0vernight monday and tuesday, the band of rain continues its journey eastwards. then our attention turns toa eastwards. then our attention turns to a developing area of low pressure, the exact track of this macro when there is some uncertainty at the moment but it looks as though many areas, particularly the further east, will get off to a dry, bright start, that by the end of the day the rain will have moved on to most areas accompanied by strong winds, we could see gales or severe gales.

some snow as well over the hills of scotland. away from that we are sticking with the mild theme through tuesday. heading into wednesday we have a transient ridge of high pressure. that should allow us to ta ke pressure. that should allow us to take breath for a moment. then the next weather system pushes in the through thursday, introducing wet and windy conditions again. here is our undulating jet stream as we head through the latter stages of next week. it looks as though we could see a quieter spell as we approach the following weekend. to sum up, it looks as though we will be sticking with a mild theme, some potentially disruptive wins at times with heavy rain, but it could be turning a little drier as we head to the end of next week.

after three years of deadlock, power sharing returns to northern ireland. sinn fein agreed to re—enter devolved government, meaning the stormont assembly will sit again tomorrow. i believe that power—sharing can work. that requires everyone to step up. sinn fein's commitment is to do all in our power to make this happen. we believe this is a fair and balanced deal. we believe it is a deal that can form the basis for allowing us to go back into government and to deal with all of the difficult issues that we need to deal with. with the political stalemate over, it's hoped the deal will bring about much—need improvements to public services. also tonight... vigils in canada for the victims of the ukrainian plane crash,