Animal head transplantation operations
The idea of surgically implanted head operations in and of itself is not new. It has been previously conducted on animals. In 1959 AD, the Russian surgeon (Vladimir Demikhov) transferred the head of a dog to the body of another dog. The operation succeeded even in a very weak rate, as the dog died due to the rejection of the immune system of the head after 29 days.
In 1970, scientists carried out a monkey head transplant in Ohio, USA. And this process worked somewhat, as these animals were able to smell, taste, hear and see, but they lived for a short time after the operation!
In 2002, doctors in Japan transferred the head of a rat to the body of another rat. However, the head of the receiving rat was not removed, so the process ended with a two-headed rat!
The idea of transplanting a human head
The Italian neurosurgeon “Sergio Canfero” recently appeared and announced his intention to perform the first human head transplant in 2017.
Dr. Sergio Canfero has announced the news that it is time for a head transplant surgery. Literally, this process goes like this
He's going to take the head of a 31-year-old Russian guy. He suffers from a rare genetic disease that is deadly to his head, despite his girlfriend's fierce opposition. He applies it to the body of a person suffering from brain death, and then he fuses them together. This gives the needy person a new body, and the Russian Valery Spyridinov (32 years) since 2015, who suffers from acute muscle wasting disease that reduces a person's physical abilities to move to the maximum limits, and makes him completely dependent on a wheelchair, declared his readiness to undergo the operation. Doctors transplant his head into a donated body, hoping that his brain will work in a healthy body, thus becoming the first person to attract the world's attention in general and the field of medicine and neurosurgery in particular.
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Drawbacks to this process
But who are the patients who would be eligible for this procedure. This process may be an option for transgender people.
That is, the one who wants to transform into a girl and the girl who wants to transform into a man
Sergio says he can do it, and that he has a way to fuse the spinal cord because that is the main barrier to doing such a procedure. The head is implanted with the body through the spinal cord, which is the main neurotransmitter.
If Dr. Sergio knows how to do this, he should rather not have a head transfer procedure. Rather, it helps people with tragic spinal cord injuries, who are now paralyzed and unable to move.
There are hundreds of them around the world, and we do not know how to solve their problem, and we do not know how to help them. Also, Dr. Sergio developed a method for regrowing nerve tissue, so he had to transfer his efforts to that place.
Sergio says that this process was performed earlier in animals, as there were attempts by Russian scientists in 1910. To carry out the transfer of the heads of dogs, and also in monkeys in the 1970's. However, these operations are meaningless, as we do not know whether these operations performed what they were required to do or not! Also, these animals lived for a few days and then died!
In addition, we need a massive amount of immune system inhibitors to prevent the body from rejecting the new head. Which will often lead to a person developing kidney deficiency or cancer anyway!
In addition to the obstacle to re-integrating the spinal cord, we do not know whether the body will tolerate the amount of treatment that will be given to perform this operation.
Problems that may result from a head transplant
There is another problem that the Italian doctor did not talk about despite its importance; And that is that this procedure - attaching a head to a body - is not so simple. The nervous system sends signals to the brain, and the brain begins to use these signals and analyze them, as it floats in chemical signals from the original body.
If a new head is placed on the body, we will expel a mentally ill person. Because the (chemical) nerve signals will be completely different, and the brain will be either completely turbulent or chaotic.
This action / is unethical not just because we do not have sufficient knowledge. It is even unethical to think of such a procedure as well. Because of the serious risk of making a person mentally unstable, amnesic, or tormented throughout his life!
In the field of organ transplantation, we hardly know how to transplant only a face! We still suffer from problems in the success of liver, kidney, heart, or even lung transplants without impairing the health of the patient so that his body accepts the operation.
But this alleged head transplant is not among our priorities in the future, but rather the priority should be for people who are paralyzed or unable to move.
According to the Italian surgeon, the chances of success of the operation are up to 90 percent. He explained that it would require the participation of 80 surgeons, and would cost 10 million dollars.
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