Today in class we
talked about how the first ever head transplant is going to take place in as
early as two years from now. I found this to be really interesting because of
how dangerous this procedure would be and just overall how they plan to do it. In
doing further research on head transplants I found this won’t be the first one
ever attempted. With the amount of failed attempts, I am surprised they
still have not had a successful head transplant.
In 1954, Soviet
surgeon Vladimir Demikhov attempted the first head transplant on a dog. A puppy’s
head was transplanted onto the body of a larger, older dog. Demikhov had
attempted this many other times after but the longest survival was only six
days. Many died after two. In 1970, a somewhat successful head transplant took
place in which one head was replaced by a different head led by a man named Robert
White. This took place at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in
Cleveland, Ohio. Robert White did this head transplant on a monkey which after
the transplant was able to breathe with artificial assistance. After 9 days the
immune system rejected the head and the monkey died. Many head transplants have
been attempted since and with how technologically advanced we are today, we are
just years away from the first successful had transplant.In the year 2013, a man named Sergio Canavero of the Turin Advanced Neruomodulation Group in Italy, proposed we do the first human head transplant. Through surgical procedures, he wants to extend the lives of people whose muscles and nerves are degenerating, or people whose organs are infected with cancer. According to Canavero, the most difficult part of the procedure with not be the head transplant itself but instead fusing the spinal cord and preventing the body’s immune system from shutting down after rejecting the new head. He predicts the surgery could be ready as early as 2017.
Sergio Canavero plans to announce his plan to attempt the first human head transplant at the annual conference of the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopedic Surgeons (AANOS). This conference will be help in Annapolis, Maryland, in June 2015.
Sources:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/human-head-transplant-two-years-away/http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22530103.700-first-human-head-transplant-could-happen-in-two-years.html#.VUEPPu90zmQ
There seem to be some medical downsides and concerns about a head transplant, but what I'm curious about it the psychological effects of a head transplant. Our heads are a very important part of our bodies and perform a lot of functions, and I feel like if my head was replaced with someone else's, I wouldn't feel like myself anymore.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Julie. Before this human head transplant takes place I think thorough study into the psychological effects of putting a head on a new body would be. There could be serious damage done to the brain from not knowing the new body or from the trauma of going to sleep with one body and waking up with a different body. I am also interested to know how they keep the head alive long enough without blood to get it attached to the new body. Would the brain begin dying from lack of oxygen or blood flow?
ReplyDeleteAccording to the research I have done, the animals who have been used in performing these trial head transplants have not necessarily died from a lack of blood flow but instead from the immune system rejecting the head. The immune system is made up of antibodies, white blood cells, and other chemicals and proteins. Its job is to attack and rid the body of substances such as bacteria and viruses that they recognize as foreign and different from the body's normal healthy tissues. When the immune system detects the new head it immediately flags it as a dangerous foreign substance and will then reject it, ultimately killing the animal. That seems to be the biggest issue in performing these head transplants
DeleteI think the only way to do this procedure would be to completely shut down the immune system when the head is immediately transplanted and slowly try to build it up again. I feel that there needs to be immune suppression in order for this to work, which poses a lot of questions on the overall health of patience. After a head transplant, the patient could potentially die because of something small like the common cold.
ReplyDelete