Joho the Blog
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January 08, 2007
In 2005, how many breast enhancement surgeries were performed in the U.S., excluding reconstructive ones? (Source: Boston Globe) Getting this answer right means getting it within an order of magnitude. The answer is in the first comment. [Tags: puzzles medicine surgery] Posted
by D. Weinberger at January 8, 2007 09:30 AM
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Comments
The right answer, according to The Globe: 300,000. Another 60,000 reconstructive surgeries were performed.
Posted by: David Weinberger | January 8, 2007 09:32 AM
Seems like a Web 2.0 business opportunity for a social network site built around breast enhancement - with 300.000 potential users from day 1 (and from 2005 alone).
Posted by: Matthew Langham | January 8, 2007 09:49 AM
Ah but do you mean in Boston, the USA or in the world?
Posted by: Euan Semple | January 8, 2007 09:56 AM
Euan, US only. I've amended the original post to reflect that. Thx.
Posted by: David Weinberger | January 8, 2007 12:35 PM
Whoa. I missed it by 1.5 orders of magnitude.
This means that 1 in 500 American women had a non-reconstructive boob job last year. If you imagine each woman has a 50-year window for having the operation, that translates to 10% of the female population having one at some point. (Yes, this math is sloppy: it assumes homogeneity over time, zero population growth, and 50-year generations. But still, this is surprising.)
Posted by: Matt Norwood | January 8, 2007 01:42 PM
I once read somewhere that the most popular surgery in the US is Breast Augmentation, where the most popular surgery in Europe is Breast Reduction.
What does that say?
Posted by: Tara Hunt | January 9, 2007 12:39 AM
Test
Posted by: xc | January 16, 2007 09:18 AM