buy a new face

[hope]

here it comes! science fiction could soon be reality within weeks. a group of scientists now believe that it is possible to create a new face by transplanting it with another one. if this succeeds, it would almost definately cure rosacea. but realistically i do not think that any rosacean would ever really consider this treatment even when it becomes perfected in a decade or two. i posted this article as more of an interesting aside than a viable treatment option (which i hope is obviouse).

here is the article:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1787275,00.html

and another one:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16646618%255E23289,00.html

[hope]

preventing the patients with deformed faces from selecting the face that they would most desire from the list of candidates is remarkably patronizing of the scientists. notice that the scientist's justification for doing this was that if the patients care about their appearance (and thus want to select which face they would like from the list of candidates), then the scientists claim that they don't want those patients!

Could the scientists really be that obtuse! after all, the only reason that these patients volunteered to undergo this awfull operation was because they cared about there appearance enough to risk life and limb for it!

How arrogant and tyrannical for the scientists to claim that the patients will have to trust to the scientists esthetic judgement in selecting a face for them. This is esthetics - not science! leave science to the scientists, and a patients esthetic preferances to the patient.

[fanta]

Facial transplants are for severe burn victims. If your skin is completely destroyed and you dont look like a human being you have quite a few problems besides appearance. Probably the body might reject a new face and they have a considerate risk of mortality from doing this, so I fully understand their opinion.

[Bob Bear]

Wow, I didnt realise they were so close to 'pulling it off' (get it, ay?)

In seriousness, I wonder if this would theoretically cure rosacea symptoms? Or would the new vascular architectre become damaged too? Interesting.

Dont think I will be pursuing this treatment anytime soon though, atleast not for rosacea!

[irishgenes]

I saw a TV show about this not too long ago. The facial bone structure of the patient will make the donated face look different on the patient than it did on the dead person. The dead person's relatives will not be able to recognize the face once it is on different bone structure. Thus a patient who might choose Angelina Jolie's face might actually look better with some ordinary woman's face because of her underlying bone structure.

[marecki]

there is a article in dermatology times on that face transplant

http://www.dermatologytimes.com/dermatologytimes/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=251797