Did you know that more than 40 people have successfully completed surgical re-attachment of their lost limbs with new human hands provided by deceased donors? Its true. The French first accomplished this miraculous medical feat in 1998 and since then more than 40 have been given back the use of a lost hand or hands. 10 in the US alone.
Well, it seems that UCLA has announced plans to open a hand transplant facility in the US soon. They are seeking volunteers – returning war veterans or others who have recently lost their hands – to participate in this still very experimental procedure. Click here to read more about this amazing medical story. Did you know that more than 40 people have successfully completed surgical re-attachment of their lost limbs with new human hands provided by deceased donors? Its true. The French first accomplished this miraculous medical feat in 1998 and since then more than 40 have been given back the use of a lost hand or hands. 10 in the US alone.
Well, it seems that UCLA has announced plans to open a hand transplant facility in the US soon. They are seeking volunteers – returning war veterans or others who have recently lost their hands – to participate in this still very experimental procedure. Click here to read more about this amazing medical story. 2 Responses to “Surgical Hand Transplant Technology Takes a Step Forward”
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Hand Transplant Launches at UCLA
I found this article very interesting, the thought of a person getting a human hand instead of a prosthetic one sounds a lot better. From what I read you may not get full hand sensation or strength but the recipient can perform many task. I think the person won’t feel so weird exposing or touching someone with a real human hand as opposed to a prosthetic hand. The procedure is experimental but at least 40 people have received hand transplants since the French completed the first successful operation.
There aren’t a lot of operations, so I was glad to read that they were going to do more studies to confirm the surgical techniques are successful. I would also like to know about the people that had the operation if there were any problems or side effects. I am not crazy about taking a lot of medications so having to take the drug immunosuppressant to ensure the body doesn’t reject the hand troubles me. Because most drugs have side effects and I would like to know what they are. They did make a good point that the patient could develop cancer. That doesn’t sound like a good trade off, being healthy to developing cancer.
It is a good idea that they offer the experimental surgery to people who lost their hand in the war. They will put you on list, and match you with donors so you can have a strong success rate of the surgery. Yes, I found this article very interesting and I learned something I didn’t even know was going on.
Very good medica advancement. When they can also transplant legs?