medical news

Connie Culp, the recipient of the first US almost-total face transplant spoke to the media for the first time.

The 46-year-old mother of two had the middle section of her face shot off by her husband in 2004. Surgeons in Cleveland, OH, replaced 80 percent of her face with that of a dead female donor in a 22-hour operation, and it seemed that her appearance before the media was in large part to thank the donor's family. The transplant is only the fourth to be carried out.

Because of her injuries, Culp had no bone support and was unable to eat or to breathe without a tube in her windpipe. Surgeons used donor tissue to replace her nose, mouth, lips and chin.

Experts say that face-transplant recipients may feel remorse, grief, and guilt toward the donor, but my first thoughts were about how radically Culp's husband's violence has altered her life. Our faces, for better or worse, are integral to how we're seen and treated in the world. This story reminds me of an autobiography Lucy Grealy wrote about having part of her jaw removed due to cancer. To get a sense of how wrenching her experience was, read more

Another heartwarming tale to come out of England as a pup once paralyzed and in pain received a new lease on life! Enzo the German Shepherd had two herniated discs in his spine and doctors advised owner Chris Evans to give up hope that his doggy would survive or walk again. As a dedicated pet owner, Evans wouldn't take no for an answer and found his pooch a revolutionary operation costing £5,000 (almost twice that in US dollars); the 9-year-old dog had two bolts inserted in the middle of his spine to fuse two vertebrae.

Although the pup still can't support himself on his back legs on land, he's now able to use them during hydrotherapy in the pool. The advanced procedure relieved pressure on the spinal cord and sciatic nerve and, as long as the damage to the cord isn't permanent, vets are optimistic that the pooch will one day get a new leash on life and walk again.

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If you can believe it, there just might be a connection between an Octopus's beak and better artificial limbs for humans! I've noticed an upswing in sea life inspiring new inventions recently, and this one is no exception. If you think of how seemingly uncomfortable artificial limbs are now – hard all the way through causing abrasions on amputated limbs – then the octopus may be able to help with a solution to the problem.

The trick to an octopus munching on huge, bone-filled fishies is the tough-as-nails beak. But how the heck can it have a beak with no bones, and keep from hurting itself? That's the question that researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara think they have figured out: The octopus beak gradates from super hard to squishy soft as it meets other tissue. So, if you think of an X-acto knife sticking out of a bowl of Jello, only the knife gets softer the closer it gets to the bottom of the bowl, then you'll sort of get the idea. If artificial limbs had softer consistencies where they connected to limbs and were bone tough at the tips to withstand damage then it would help make amputees' lives more comfortable. Who knew that sea creatures could be so helpful to us land dwellers!?

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