As lifespans extend, many people are no longer content to grow old and saggy—and can afford the surgery to defy gravity, if not time. Two doctors wrote about the safety of face lifts for old folks.

What the researchers wanted to know: Can we show that it's safe to do outpatient cosmetic surgery on patients who are 75 and older?

What they did: The writers describe the experience of one of them, Ferdinand Becker, a cosmetic surgeon who works in Vero Beach, Fla. They looked at all 33 patients ages 75 and older who'd gotten face-lifts from Becker between 1988 and 2002, and compared them with 74 randomly-chosen face-liftees ages 45 to 61.

What they found: Older patients weren't any more likely than middle-aged patients to experience complications. People in worse health, regardless of age, were more likely to have complications.

What the study means to you: If you're old, a face-lift may be safe; if you're unhealthy, think twice about any unnecessary surgery.

Caveats: This is a summary of one surgeon's practice; he may be an exceptionally good and conscientious surgeon, so you can't generalize to every cosmetic surgeon out there. Also, the authors didn't set out to ask whether or not it's safe to perform cosmetic surgery on older people. They say from the beginning that they're writing the article to "lend credence to the practice."

Find out more: A U.S. News and World Report article on how surgery for the elderly is gaining acceptance: www.usnews.com/usnews/health/hosptl/articles/12old.htm

Read the article: Becker, F.B., and R.D. Castellano. "Safety of Face-Lifts in the Older Patient." Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery. September/October 2004, Vol. 6, pp. 311-314.

Abstract online: http://archfaci.ama-assn.org