Doctor Claims World's First Successful Human Head Transplant - But There's A Catch

Shuterstock

Never too far away from making headlines, the controversial neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero is back with claims that the world’s first head transplant is “imminent”, after Chinese scientists successfully carried out the first head transplant on a human corpse.

He revealed the news at a press conference in Vienna on Friday morning, The Telegraph reports. Professor Canavero claims the feat was carried out during an 18-hour operation at Harbin Medical University in China, during which a team of surgeons successfully severed then reconnected the spinal cord, nerves, and blood vessels in the spine and neck.

The operation was led by Dr Xiaoping Ren, a surgeon who has previously transplanted the head of a monkey and numerous rodents. Harbin Medical University is expected to write a full report on the operation within the next few days.

“The first human transplant on human cadavers has been done," Canavero told the crowd, according to the Telegraph. "A full head swap between brain-dead organ donors is the next stage. And that is the final step for the formal head transplant for a medical condition which is imminent.”

In a phone interview today, Canavero told USA Today that the operation will take place in China because the scientific establishment and authorities of Europe and the US were unwilling to support the contentious surgery.

"The Americans did not understand,” he said. "Chinese President Xi Jinping wants to restore China to greatness. He wants to make it the sole superpower in the world. I believe he is doing it.”

The eccentric Italian's plans to pull off the first live human head transplant have been surrounded and fueled with controversy. Back in 2015, he estimated that the operation would be done and dusted by 2017, however that’s looking unlikely considering the recent rate of developments.

Even though Canavero has spent the past few year writing scientific studies on the feat, massive doubts are continuing to be cast onto the scientific legitimacy of his big promises. Arthur Caplan, head of medical ethics at Langone Medical Center of New York University, said Canavero was “out of his mind”.

Speaking to Wired in May of this year about head transplant surgery, neuroscientist Dean Burnett said: “When someone makes an extreme claim, my rule of thumb is this: If they haven’t provided robust scientific evidence, but they have done a TED talk, alarm bells should be ringing.”

Canavero’s TEDx Talk can be viewed below.

X-Rays Show Gold Splinters Embedded In Woman's Hands

Meet the woman with the golden touch. Believe it or not, the short squiggly bright-white lines on this X-ray show flecks of gold that have become embedded in her hands.

The story behind this image is explained in a medical case study published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) this week.

The 58-year-old South Korean woman visited the hospital suffering from chronic joint pain and odd deformities in her hands and feet, an ailment she had been suffering from for around 40 years. At age 18, she started to treat her condition using a traditional Asian technique called “gold thread acupuncture”, involving the insertion of small pieces of sterile gold thread with an acupuncture needle (you can probably see where this story is going now).

You can also see in the X-ray how her hands have become deformed due to rheumatoid arthritis. This is caused by inflammatory cells of the immune system gathering around the joints, eventually hardening into a tough fibrous tissue. This tissue, known as pannus, slowly releases substances that can speed up the damage to the bone, cartilage, and ligaments.

There’s not much in the way of scientific evidence that gold threaded acupuncture can help you with this condition. Nevertheless, this treatment has a long history of treating joint pain that continues to this day. Oral and injectable gold treatments are also sometimes used.

“In East Asia and globally, acupuncture – including gold thread acupuncture – has long been used to treat joint pain. Oral and injectable gold preparations are also sometimes used,” Dr Young-Bin Joo and Dr Kyung-Su Park, the doctors who treated the woman, explained in their case report.

After doctors officially diagnosed the 58-year old with rheumatoid arthritis, she was treated with the more conventional combination of methotrexate and leflunomide, two drugs that help reduce the body’s immune system thereby dampening swelling around the joints. 

The golden splinters remain in her hands.

Doctors have come across cases like this before, especially in East Asia where the practice is more common than elsewhere. In 2013, the NEJM reported another case study of a 65-year-old woman in South Korea who had tiny gold splinters within her knee after years of gold thread acupuncture treatment for her osteoarthritis.

Nine "Health" Foods That You'd Be Better Off Avoiding

Food-wise, it can be hard to keep up with what is healthy and what is not. When nutritionists decided that (healthy) fats, carbohydrates, and coffee weren't so bad after all, we could all breathe a deep sigh of relief. But what about some of the so-called "health" foods that aren't as good for you as they're made out to be? Here are nine health fads that might be worth ditching. 

Fruit juices and smoothies

Freshly squeezed orange juice and a green smoothie straight from the Nutribullet – it’s fruit and vegetables so it must be good for you, right? From a nutritional standpoint, juices are a whole load better for you than your regular, sugar-laden fizzy drink. If it’s freshly squeezed, you get most of the vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients from the whole fruit (and obviously that’s a good thing) but the juicing process removes almost all fiber, which is what keeps you feeling full. And because one glass of juice requires more than just one piece of fruit, you are drinking more sugar (a glass of orange juice has six teaspoons of sugar in, nearly the same as a can of full fat Coca-Cola) than you would likely consume had you stuck to one whole fruit. Smoothies aren’t so innocent either.

Granola

Granola tastes good but a lot of its innate deliciousness comes from sugar. It’s also high in carbs and calories but low in protein, and one portion of the "healthy" cereal is a lot smaller than you might imagine. A poll in the New York Times found that more than 70 percent of the public consider granola bars healthy but only 28 percent of nutritionists interviewed will back them up on this view. True, granola is high in fiber and nut varieties contain heart-healthy fats but, given its high sugar content, it might be best to start thinking of it as a dessert rather than a breakfast staple.

Fat-free or low-fat anything

If you’re trying to lose weight or eat healthy, swapping out your regular product for a lighter alternative sounds like a no-brainer. That is until you realize food manufacturers regularly add extra sugar or additives to make something fat-free edible, otherwise, it can be rather tasteless. Besides, the right fats in moderation are good for you. Think, avocados and oily fish, which can help protect you against cardiovascular disease, dementia, and different types of cancer. Sugar, on the other hand, can raise your risk of dying from heart disease. Experts reckon you should limit your intake to less than 10 percent of your daily calories.

Almond milk

Unless you’re dairy-free, buying almond milk instead of cow’s milk isn’t automatically healthier. In fact, it’s lower in protein and the food manufacturing process makes it harder for your body to absorb and retain all the nutrients. (Most vitamins are added in during the production process.) Besides, regular, dairy milk is full of important nutrients like vitamin A and B12, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, and riboflavin. If you don’t have an intolerance and you’re not vegan, there’s no reason to avoid it.

Astonishing New Ice Age Cave System Discovered Beneath The Streets Of Major City

Cavers in Montréal have discovered an incredible system of caverns and tunnels beneath the city, created when sabre-toothed cats were still hunting ground sloths and mammoths were migrating across the steppes.

The Pie-XII Park in central Montréal is already well-known for a subterranean secret, with an entrance way for the St. Léonard cave that people can go down and explore. But it was what lay hidden beyond this section that stunned speleologists. Two cavers discovered an entirely new network of shafts and tunnels that reached almost 213 meters (700 feet) deep into the rock.

The two who made the remarkable find, Daniel Caron and Luc Le Blanc, finally entered the new system this October, but their hunch for the new caves occurred way back in 2014. After a year of exploring the already mapped sections of St. Léonard’s caverns, they came across a narrow opening in the rock at the back of one of the cavities. Too small for a person to slide through, a camera revealed it to open out into a new chamber beyond.

It was not until this year that they have been able to chisel away enough rock to allow them to slip into the system and start exploring. From the large hollow they passed into, the cavers then dropped down into a narrow hallway perhaps 6 meters (20 feet) high. “The walls are perfectly smooth and the ceiling is perfectly horizontal,” Le Blanc told National Geographic.

The cave systems in this part of the world are thought to have been formed when the great ice sheet that once stretched across much of North America eventually retreated around 12,000 years ago. As the glaciers receded over the land, fissures were formed in the ground beneath, leading to the system that is now seen hidden under Montréal.

One of the most incredible parts of this recent discovery is that even though St. Léonard cave was first found in 1812, and utility pipes and basements have been built since then as the city continued to expand, this latest system still somehow remained undetected until now. They think this is probably because the caves are too deep underground for anyone to have noticed before.

The tunnels likely extend right down to the water table underneath the city. However, the team have halted exploring it further due to the large amounts of water filling the lower sections of the cave. They plan to return next year to see if they can go any deeper.

What Is The Most Dangerous Drug In The World?

AsapSCIENCE and In A Nutshell (Kurzgesagt), two of the coolest nerds on YouTube, have collaborated on a new animation that aims to reveal the most dangerous drug in the world. Here's a clue, it isn't heroin or cocaine.

First off, there are a few things you need to consider. If we are just talking about lethal substances, the deadliest known drug is botulinum toxin, better known as Botox or the stuff people inject into faces for cosmetic purposes. Just 0.00000007 grams of this is enough to kill an average-sized human – there’s something to think about next time you get worried about a wrinkle.

However, lethality is not necessarily a good measure of danger. As explained in the video, a team of UK scientists carried out an investigation to discover how much harm is caused by 25 different recreational drugs using 16 new parameters. These parameters also considered wider forms of physical, psychological, and social harm, including the risk of dependency, impairment of mental functioning, and its association with criminal activities. This multi-criteria analysis allowed them to gauge the harm to the individual user and the harm to others, something other analyses have not looked at.

At the bottom of the ranks, causing the least harm to both users and others, were magic mushrooms, LSD, and ecstasy. These three recreational drugs had a relatively low rate of harm to the user, while the harm to others was practically non-existent. Although these drugs are not exactly harmless, they’re not innately addictive nor widely associated with crime.

In terms of harm to an individual, heroin is the most dangerous. It’s easy to develop a physical dependency, it has terrible withdrawal symptoms, it directly causes numerous health complications, and it's associated with all kinds of social problems. Crack cocaine was not too far behind heroin, also posing a high risk to the user and others. After this pair, there was methamphetamine, cocaine, tobacco, then amphetamines. 

However, none of these drugs were the most dangerous overall. In regards to overall harm, alcohol takes the top spot by a long shot. Check out the video below to see why this socially acceptable and perfectly legal drug is so very dangerous.

Study Finds No Evidence That Consuming Part Of Your Own Body Can Reduce Postpartum Depression

Whether it's popping pills like Kim and Kourtney or consuming it raw in a smoothie like actor Gaby Hoffman, eating placenta has been the latest alternative maternity trend to hit the mainstream. But in case you were wondering whether or not it's a good idea to follow suit, the latest research suggests it's best to sit this one out.

Not only does it put your child at risk (the CDC issued a health warning this summer), it appears the health benefits have been over-exaggerated. According to a study recently published in Women and Birth, new mothers who take placenta capsules show no significant improvement in maternal mood, mother-infant bonding, or fatigue.

The placenta develops during pregnancy to supply the fetus with nutrition and discard its waste. The theory goes that post-labor, the nutrients that have been passed from mother to fetus during pregnancy persist in the placenta and eating it raw helps the mother recover from childbirth. The practice has been gaining increasing popularity in recent years with proponents claiming that placenta pills can ease fatigue, prevent post-natal depression, and improve milk production.

Advocates also point out that humans are one of the relatively few species of mammal that don't partake in placentophagy (the scientific name for eating the placenta). While this might be true, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we should do the same. As Rebecca Baergen, a professor and Chief of Perinatal and Obstetric Pathology at Weill Cornell Medicine, pointed out in an interview with Scientific American, “there are a lot of other things that animals do that we don't do.”

Still, until now, there has been relatively little science that has looked into the effects – beneficial or not – of eating your placenta.

Researchers from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, monitored maternal mood, mother-infant bonding, and fatigue levels in 27 new mothers. Twelve volunteers were given placenta pills to take. The remaining 15 were given placebo pills.

Ultimately, there was no significant improvement in any of the categories measured, though the researchers did note very slight decreases in depressive symptoms in the placenta pill group, which could be investigated further. There were also small but noticeable changes in hormone concentrations.

“What we have uncovered are interesting areas for future exploration, such as small impacts on hormone levels for women taking placenta capsules, and small improvements in mood and fatigue in the placenta group,” Sharon Young, lead author of the study, explained in a statement.

It was a small study so it would be interesting to see whether these findings can be replicated on a larger scale, but while experts advise against the practice, and with pills costing upwards of $200, for now, it might be a trend to skip.

CT Scans Show A Bullet Lodged In A Man's Eye Socket

These CT scans show the remarkable story of a man who was shot in the face and lived to talk about it.

As explained in a case report published in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology this week, a 45-year old man was rushed to the ER at the University of California in San Francisco after being shot with a .22-caliber pistol. The bullet was fired through a wooden door and ended up becoming lodged in the back of his right eye socket. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the man’s head was used to locate the position of the bullet and the level of damage to his soft tissues.

A nasty entry wound was created in the corner of the man’s eye near the tear duct. Remarkably, the bullet did not fracture his skull at all. The CT scan did reveal, however, that the bullet was lodged against his inferior rectus muscle, one of six muscles that control the movements of the eye. The trauma had also caused his eyeball to bulge out by 3 millimeters, a phenomenon known as proptosis.

During a relatively smooth operation, a team of surgeons removed the bullet and repaired the damage to his soft tissue. Although he was involved in a very unfortunate accident, this man was actually very lucky in the end. Granted, he was reportedly in severe pain for a number hours, but he managed to leave the hospital with his vision still intact.

“Postoperatively, the patient’s pain rapidly resolved and his visual acuity remained unchanged,” the study concludes.

It’s believed the only reason the bullet did not lead to more serious injuries was that it had passed through the wooden door and lost some of its velocity.

Back in 2010, there were news reports of a woman whose breast implant saved her life after she was shot in the chest. A few years later, scientists carried out an experiment to see if there was any truth to this claim. They discovered that a breast implant could “significantly [decrease] ballistics gel penetration” by up to 20.6 percent decreased penetration distance, enough to save your life and dramatically reduce the damage caused.

What's Causing The Mysterious "Ghost Disease" Near North Korea's Nuclear Test Site?

There’s no doubt that parts of North Korea feature hellish humanitarian disasters. The Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site near Mount Mantap has made headlines several times in this regard in the last few months, with reports of deformed babies, corpses floating down rivers, and more being linked to the subterranean detonations.

Now, as reported by NBC News, North Korean defectors fleeing the area have spoken of something they’re colloquially referring to as a “ghost disease”. According to their accounts, leaking radiation is having a dreadful effect on their health, causing weakness, sores, and worse.

One middle-aged escapee explained that people were dying all around her back in Kilju County, which features the underground test site.

“We thought we were dying because we were poor and we ate badly. Now we know it was the radiation,” defector Lee Jeong Hwa told the human rights activists based in Seoul.

Reports of sick and dying North Koreans have steadily emerged from those that used to live near Punggye-ri over the last few months. Although the nuclear tests occur deep below the surface, the increasingly weak geology there makes it a distinct possibility that some of the radiation is effusing up toward the surface.

Some have suspected that the site suffers from Tired Mountain Syndrome, wherein repeated massive explosions cause the surrounding rock to become increasingly permeable. This has been corroborated with the accounts of other defectors who have spoken of disappearing water within wells, a phenomenon that could be down to a lowering of the water table as the underlying geology collapses after each test.

However, at this stage, you can’t conclusively blame the awful health of the North Korean defectors on radiation. Without any researchers being allowed onto the site, it’s difficult to tell how much radioactive contamination at the surface there actually is.

Malnutrition – something that is rife in North Korea – poor sanitation, and hygiene, as well as waterborne diseases, could also be to blame. Unlike radioactive contamination, these are known to be prevalent throughout the country.

Incidentally, South Korean officials have tested Lee and 29 other defectors hailing from Kilju County for signs of radioactive contamination. So far, they’ve not found any.

This doesn’t mean that the defectors are fabricating these stories, though. It’s more likely that being aware of the underground nuclear tests, they associate the accompanying radiation with their poor health. Even with other factors taken into account, these colossal blasts are so frightening that they find it difficult to not make the association.

There’s no doubt that the living conditions in Kilju are unfathomably awful. Still, at this stage, the degree to which any radioactive contamination at the surface is occurring – if at all – remains uncertain.

[H/T: NBC News]