It will change your face!

2003/12/28 Rementeria Argote, Nagore - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa

• Medikuntza

Recognition of one's face is fundamental in mental health.

It is not a simple theme. At the head come several questions: if necessary, would you put another person's face? Or if you put me on the other side would I give my face to another?

It seems that lifting the face of a deceased does not mean lifting the heart or liver. Heart transplants, for example, are done when the patient dies or lives, but faces are not vital. Normally they will only be done to improve the appearance of the patient, and although this is not little, the important thing is to keep it in mind.

It is said that the face is the mirror of the soul, and not only that, it is the part of the body that always carries visible. Therefore, psychological effects are the biggest enemy of facial transplants. It is very difficult to know in advance how the patient and his family will react after such an operation.

Science fiction / Movie accounts

Hearing about facial transplants for the first time, it's no wonder it relates to science fiction. In Face Off, for example, police officer John Travolta took the face of the evil Nicolas Cage to bring to the end a police investigation.

Of course, in that film, when faces were exchanged, each one acquired the same aspect. But in reality, face transplants would not occur. The transplanted patient will maintain the pre-existing structure, avoiding bone and muscle transplantation, so only the skin will be altered. Somehow, the new face will be a mix of recipient and donor faces.

The operation is complicated and the postoperative will not be simple either.

From the point of view of surgery, it is a complicated operation. The recipient removes the skin and several subsurface membranes and inserts those of the donor. The blood vessels and nerves of both bind together. And so, the new face has the necessary blood circulation and, thanks to the nerves, has also the touch.

Facial transplants may be useful for people with a distorted face. Especially for people who have lost their original appearance due to burns, accidents or cancer.

One of the advantages of transplanting against skin grafts is its sensitivity. This is because once the menthed skin feels a kind of itching, it usually does not recover all the touch.

Would you?

The decision to do the transplant is not easy. In addition to its influence on the psychological state of the patient, there are other drawbacks. It should be noted that after the intervention, the immune system of admission of the body after the intervention must be attenuated, otherwise the risk of rejection is very high. This means that the transplant recipient will need to take immunosuppressive drugs throughout their life. These drugs, in addition to reducing the body's defenses, are at risk for side effects such as certain types of cancer, diabetes, hypertension, etc.

Seen so, it seems difficult to find someone willing to do the transplant. You should be a person who really considers it necessary. However, in recent times opinions of many people with distorted faces have appeared in the press and it seems that no one is willing to operate. Some of these people think that what needs to be changed is the way we judge society and not the face of distorted people.

Facial transplants may be common in a few years.

Those who have a distorted face have a hard struggle with themselves, since many, especially in case of an accident, do not know their face in front of the mirror. They say the transplant will not solve this problem, but the recipient will have an unknown face.

In addition, it does not seem that the first patient to transplant the face has a very social welcome. Needless to say, the entire press will have the first photo behind it. As such, it is normal that no one appears publicly as a recipient. The transplant may have already been done, but it can be very traumatic for the recipient, with his self-acceptance work, to become a known person from morning to night.

However, there is no shortage of recipients or easy donors to find. It seems that it gives respect to think that someone will wear the face of oneself, even if it is a matter of death.

Unfortunately, the risk of a facial transplant is very high. And don't be surprised if in a few years they sell it as an opportunity to improve their appearance or recover their youth. It is not many years before the full faces are transplanted, with ears, nose and muscles. It will be for the benefit of those who really need it!

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