The Art of Cosmetic Surgery

Source: BBC News
It has been technically possible to carry out such a transplant for some years, with teams in the US, the UK and France esearching the procedure. Skin from another person’s face is better for transplants as it will be a better match than skin from another part of the patient’s body, which could have a different texture or colour. But the ethical concerns of a face transplant, and the psychological impact to the patient of looking different has held teams back. Concerns relating to immunosuppression, psychological impact and the consequence of technical failure have so far prevented ethical approval of the procedure in the UK, though doctors here are fully able to perform transplants.

This is the first face transplant using skin from another person

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Source: BBC News
Scientists have found high fat, low carbohydrate diets can reduce energy to the heart.

The Oxford University team say it is unclear at this stage whether this could have a damaging impact on health - but say more research is needed. Many people have lost weight quickly by following such diets - but scientists fear they may not be good for health in the longer term. The new study is being presented to an American Heart Association meeting. The Oxford team monitored 19 people over a two week period.

Associated with illness

Lead researcher Professor Kieran Clarke told BBC News that people with illnesses such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease also had lower than normal heart energy levels. A more severe form of energy depletion is one of the features of heart failure, where patients struggle with physical exertion because they have little ‘in the tank’.

We would certainly not recommend high fat-low carb diets to anyone who wants to lose weight and look after their heart

Professor Clarke said further research should be carried out on a larger sample over a longer period. “Our study gives us some interesting insights into how extreme diets might be affecting us. “Of course, this is a small and short-term piece of work. The body is remarkably adaptive and what we don’t know is whether our hearts would have gradually returned to normal had we stuck to the diet long-term.”
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