The first human head transplant has taken place

eviltimeban

On a corpse. I would've thought that wouldn't be too risky?

However, this is interesting:

Italian Professor Sergio Canavero, director of the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group, said that a team at Harbin Medical University carried out the procedure.

He said an operation on a live human will take place "imminently", the Telegraph reported this morning."The first human transplant on human cadavers has been done. A full head swap between brain dead organ donors is the next stage,” Professor Canavero said.

"And that is the final step for the formal head transplant for a medical condition which is imminent.”

So does this pave the way for people to swap bodies and heads around, for the craic?

The_Valeyard

You'd want to be head strong for that.

Boardnashea

I wouldn't be sticking my neck out!

Permabear

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lawred2

so they stuck a head on a corpse?

how could they possibly know if they did it right?

also - did they do it during a lightning storm?

fixXxer

What about the small issue of having no movement or feeling below the ears?

The_Valeyard

lawred2 wrote: »

so they stuck a head on a corpse?

how could they possibly know if they did it right?

also - did they do it during a lightning storm?

It didnt complain

Hammer89

eviltimeban wrote: »

On a corpse. I would've thought that wouldn't be too risky?

However, this is interesting:



So does this pave the way for people to swap bodies and heads around, for the craic?

Your man in the article took Roddy Doyle's head to prove it was possible.

Pac1Man

And the nominees for Best Pun in a Supporting Role are:

The_Valeyard wrote: »

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Boardnashea wrote: »

I wouldn't be sticking my neck out!

Permabear wrote: »

I've always wanted a good head on my shoulders.

donegaLroad

I wonder what the church will say, if and when an actual head transplant takes place and a person then can give their account of what life after death has been like.

SEPT 23 1989

Professor Gummidge started all this in the 70's

endacl

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Professor Gummidge started all this in the 70's

Its good to remind people of this fact. Dr. Kryten gets all the kudos for perfecting the technique in the 90s.

Charmeleon

As someone once said, a head transplant is the only transplant where you hope to be the donor rather than the recipient.

I wonder whether it was this guy:



Oh, turns out it mightn't have been, but instead found someone new.

Utterly fascinating.

corner of hells

Pac1Man wrote: »

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Boardnashea wrote: »

I wouldn't be sticking my neck out!

Permabear wrote: »

I've always wanted a good head on my shoulders.

[/quote]

We just need to stay calm , folks , and not lose the head.

Minderbinder

Should it not be called a ‘body transplant’?

jacksie66

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somefeen

I've been following this character for a while. It was due to happen this December but last I heard it was being delayed.

Very interesting story but the medical community are very adamant that it won't work. Any similar experiments done on animals have a 100% mortality rate. This guy still wants to press ahead *ahem* despite that.
If it did work nobody knows what the psychological affect will be for the patient. There's still much speculation that the mind doesn't totally reside within the brain.

Absolutely mental altogether. The surgeons TED talks are worth a watch, if only to see how much of a head case he is.

eviltimeban

So, they plan to take a healthy head from a terminally ill body, and stick it on a recently deceased, headless (but healthy) body? How do they get the donor body back to life? They are hardly going to take the head off someone still alive and put on the new head... unless the person is brain dead?

corner of hells

eviltimeban wrote: »

So, they plan to take a healthy head from a terminally ill body, and stick it on a recently deceased, headless (but healthy) body? How do they get the donor body back to life? They are hardly going to take the head off someone still alive and put on the new head... unless the person is brain dead?

Jump leads and flat 7up.

PeterParker957

fixxxer wrote: »

What about the small issue of having no movement or feeling below the ears?

Never bothered Eamon Dunphy.

Hannibal_Smith

eviltimeban wrote: »

So, they plan to take a healthy head from a terminally ill body, and stick it on a recently deceased, headless (but healthy) body? How do they get the donor body back to life? They are hardly going to take the head off someone still alive and put on the new head... unless the person is brain dead?

I can't get my head round this at all


Sorry

Roger_007

Does it matter whether the head and the body are from the same sex? If not there will have to be a new category in the sexual orientation designations i.e. LGBTIQ.......H? (Hybrid).

PeterParker957

Roger_007 wrote: »

Does it matter whether the head and the body are from the same sex? If not there will have to be a new category in the sexual orientation designations i.e. LGBTIQ.......H? (Hybrid).

Jeez don't encourage them!!!!

Charmeleon

somefeen wrote: »

There's still much speculation that the mind doesn't totally reside within the brain.

Indeed. Just the other week I overheard a builder ask a plumber if he could call around on a Sunday morning to fix a leak and he replied ‘ask me b****x’.

dilallio

They tried this operation in Belarus 10 years ago but it was a disaster.

The then 27 year old man Ivan Leglovski, was born without a body due to soviet-era medical experiments. Ivan was kept alive all this time using a specially designed life-support apparatus.

However, his health started to deteriorate and scientists were left with no option but to attempt the risky procedure of transplanting Ivan's head onto the body of a recently deceased Russian dancer who had just passed away from a brain tumour.

After a 42 hour operation, Ivan was kept in a medically-induced coma for 3 weeks.

Finally the day arrived when the medical team decided to wake the patient.

Ivan slowly awakened and opened his eyes.
"Where am I?" he asked.

After answering Ivan's questions, the doctors performed a series of stimuli tests, prodding his hands, legs, feet. He could feel everything. It was amazing!
They slowly helped him off the gurney and got him standing and walking slowly. The operation was a success.

But then disaster struck!

A nearby elderly patient with hearing loss, turned on his transistor radio at maximum volume, and a very loud Russian Kazatskis (Russian Cossack Dance) music blared out of the speaker. Suddenly, Ivan started dancing uncontrollably, bouncing all over the room doing squat kicks and advanced Russian dance moves. The medical team were too shocked to move, and before they could stop him, Ivan danced uncontrollably out through the open door, over the railings guarding the stairwell, and fell to his death 8 floors below.

And the moral of the story ...
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He should have quit while he was a head :P

maudgonner

eviltimeban wrote: »

So, they plan to take a healthy head from a terminally ill body, and stick it on a recently deceased, headless (but healthy) body? How do they get the donor body back to life? They are hardly going to take the head off someone still alive and put on the new head... unless the person is brain dead?

The body would be from a brain-dead person who is on life support. That's currently the case with most organ donation - life support is maintained to keep the organs viable until they are removed

fxotoole

GReat. Now I can rest safe in the knowledge that if I’m decapitated, I can be revived

gramar

I knew there would come a day when you could say 'he's the head off yer man' and it would be true.

everlast75

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgqKv9rkAE0

Roger_007

fxotoole wrote: »

GReat. Now I can rest safe in the knowledge that if I’m decapitated, I can be revived

You would need to do a test run..........just to prove that it works!:P