Scientists Find A Way To Stop Peanut Allergies

 Author: Steve West
From: http://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/

Allergies are often seen as a sign of weakness. If you have an allergy you’re seen as inferior. There’s little you can do about a food allergy unless you have a lot of time and money. They can start at any time in life; and often mean having to live without the food or go through immunotherapy. That is until now. Scientists have found a way to get rid of peanut allergy.

Peanut allergy is infamous, as peanuts are pervasive throughout our food system. As a chef I’m alerted to every allergy-suffering customer that orders food, and we take usual precautions. Peanut allergies being so prevalent we actually don’t have any peanuts on the premises. It’s also widely known that people will claim an allergy when they don’t like something. You really want me to believe you’re allergic to salt? You’d be dead right now if that were the case. Yes, “no salt. Allergic!” did appear on a ticket a few months ago. But peanuts are no joke.

As scary as anaphylactic shock, the immune system’s response to the protein that causes the problem, can be it isn’t normally life ending. Only a few hundred people die from anaphylactic shock each year, out of many thousands of documented cases. Still it is a nuisance to be saddled with a food allergy. Even a mild intolerance can be annoying.


Scientists at Northwestern University have found a way to acclimate the immune system to the problem peanut proteins. Paul Bryce and Stephen Miller attached the peanut protein to blood cells, which are then put back in the body. This way the immune system recognizes the blood cell, and slowly begins to get used to the protein. Then why peanuts are introduced the system doesn’t go batshit crazy and shut off a person’s ability to breathe.

The method has only been tested in mice, but it could prove a fast and efficient way to get over a food allergy. Immunotherapy does work, but it can be a large time investment.

Pictured for the first time... The boy born with eight arms and legs shows off new body after pioneering surgery

By Daniel Miller
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Beaming with delight little Deepak Paswaan shows off his normal body for the first time since undergoing surgery to remove the legs and arms of his underdeveloped twin growing out of his chest. 


For years, Deepak, 7, from Bihar, India, had to suffer taunts and bullying from other children over the appalling disfigurement.

Some taunted him as a 'devil' and a 'freak' while others even viewed him as a god.

 

Look at me now! Deepak Kumar Paswaan, who was born with the legs and arms of his underdeveloped twin brother sticking out of his chest, shows of his new body for the first time since undergoing surgery

Howzat? Deepak is able to fully indulge his love of cricket after the operation to remove his extra limbs

Determined: But before the surgery Deepak struggled to enjoy his favourite sport

Hindu pilgrims used to visit his home to worship him as an incarnation of the god Vishnu, who is often depicted with more than four limbs.


Last year his family for help to get the unwanted limbs removed and give Deepak the chance of a normal life


And Deepak's world was turned upside down when leading surgeons from Bangalore's Fortis Hospital agreed to operate for free.

The pioneering surgery, which was carried out last year, would normally cost around £50,000, a sum his impoverished family could never have dreamed of affording.
Happily the gruelling four-hour operation was a complete success.

Now fully-healed and looking like a healthy, normal seven-year-old, cricket-mad Deepak has been given a new lease of life.

He said: 'I can run faster than my two elder brothers - before I could never keep up. I really like my new body. It's much more fun. I am very happy.'

Footage from the sensational four-hour surgery will be shown on Channel 5 on Thursday night in Eight-Limbed Boy: Extraordinary People, at 9pm.

Conjoined Twin Engaged

From: http://www.celebritydarling.com/

It was announced on XM Radio that conjoined twin Brittany Hensel is engaged. The connected twins were born in Minnesota and sky-rocketed to fame the moment they were born. To heighten peoples’ curiosity, Brittany and Abby filmed a popular documentary for the TLC channel and have been seen in various esteemed magazines.

Though Brittany is engaged, Abby (her other half) is not engaged. They also have separate driver’s licenses, favorite foods, distinct personalities and so forth. So why is it so shocking to know one is engaged? What about sex? Let’s face it. Sex is the question on everyone’s mind. It’s not like one can leave while the other is having sex. Will both enjoy the sex together? If they have children whose child will it be? I suppose what is awkward to us is normal to them. Best of luck Brittany, and congratulations on your engagement.

The Anatomy of the twins from Wikipedia:

Most of Abigail's and Brittany's shared organs are located at or below the level of the navel and their merging coccyx.

•2 heads
•2 completely separate spinal cords
•2 spines with ribs bridging the two columns

•2 arms (originally 3, but rudimentary central arm was surgically removed, leaving central shoulder blade in place)
•1 broad ribcage, with surgery to correct scoliosis and expand the pleural cavities
•2 breasts
•2 highly fused sternums, traces of bridging ribs
•4 lungs (medial lungs moderately fused, not involving Brittany's upper right lobe); three pleural cavities
•1 diaphragm with well-coordinated involuntary breathing, slight central defect
•2 hearts in a shared circulatory system (nutrition, respiration, medicine taken by either affects both)
•2 stomachs
•2 gallbladders
•1 liver, enlarged and elongated right lobe
•Y-shaped small intestine which experiences a slightly spastic double peristalsis at the juncture
•1 large intestine with one colon
•2 left kidneys, 1 right kidney
•1 bladder
•1 set of reproductive organs
•2 separate half-sacrums, which converge distally
•1 slightly broad pelvis
•2 legs

Click here to read the Comments: http://www.celebritydarling.com/conjoined-twin-engaged/

Two-Headed Cow Born in Georgia

From: http://blogs.discovery.com/

On January 2nd, a cow gave birth to a calf with two heads in the eastern European country Georgia.  Apparently, the calf's mother has refused to let it nurse, which is not an uncommon response when an animal senses its offspring has something seriously wrong with it.  Despite that, the calf has been feeding from a bottle with both of its heads.  Unfortunately, chances of its survival to adulthood are not good, but possible with lots of human care.

See examples of other multiple-headed animals on Animal Planet's Weird, True and Freaky video page.
VIDEO: Watch video of the little two-headed cow.
 

The Most Flexible Woman in the World (Video)

thesmokingjacket.com — Zlata has a rare condition that makes her tendons as pliable as those of a newborn baby.

We’re far from being authorities when it comes to flexibility. We’re lucky if we can bend over to tie our shoes most mornings without requiring the assistance of an oxygen tank. That’s probably why we’re so fascinated with women who can bend themselves into all sorts of wacky positions. Or at least that’s one reason why they fascinate us.

But in all our days we’ve never seen a woman quite as flexible as this. Most people forced to assume these positions would be in a wheelchair for the rest of their lives afterwords. Not Zlata, though. The only after effect of her back breaking maneuvers is that she comes out of them being exponentially sexier than she was going in. And that alone is no small feat.

Look At Yourself After Watching This.

youtube.com — Gain a whole new perspective.

Face Transplant Man Goes Public

From: http://www.thesun.co.uk/

A SPANIARD who had one of the world's first face transplants has appeared in public today to thank the donor and surgeons who operated on him.

The patient named only as Rafael said: "I am full of joy and happiness. I want to thank the family of the donor and the medical team."

Rafael, 34, was the third person in Spain and the tenth in the world to receive a partial face transplant.

The operation was carried out after Rafael was left with a series of tumours on his face from a rare condition that caused cells to grow abnormally.

Thanks ... Rafael with Dr Gomez Cia

He appeared before the media at the Virgen del Rocio Hospital in Seville, southern Spain, where he underwent a 30-hour operation on January 26 and 27.

He has since been released from hospital and says he can feel pain, heat and cold in his face — and has even started shaving.

Rafael still has difficulty in talking clearly as he is not expected to regain complete control over his tongue for another three months. His face is also still inflamed.

Disfigured ... Rafael's photo before op is shown

Enlarge

Disfigured ... Rafael's photo before op is shown

1 of 1

He told reporters he is a fan of Seville football team Real Betis and is looking forward to going back to their stadium to watch a match.

Rafael appeared at the press conference alongside his mother Juana and sister Belen, who held his hand throughout.

He asked for his privacy to be respected, saying: "Please, after this press conference I want you to leave me, my family and my friends in peace."

The doctors said the transplant involved the patient receiving donor tissue for the lower two-thirds of his face.

Brave

The first part of the transplant involved removing the facial tissue, blood vessels and nerve endings from the donor. The second part involved attaching them to the patient.

Rafael spent five weeks in intensive care and a week in the burns unit before being moved to a regular hospital bed on March 15.

Surgeon Tomas Gomez Cia, who lead the transplant team, described the patient as "an incredibly brave person".

He said: "It is difficult enough for us to appear before all these cameras, so you can imagine how Rafael feels."

The team of plastic surgeons spent a year practising for the operation on bodies and 3D computer simulators.

Recovering ... face transplant patient and nurse

Juan David Gonzalez Padilla, director of maxillofacial surgery at the hospital, said: "He has recovered his sensitivity in the lips, the cheeks, he can distinguish cold and heat, and he's even shaving, something which he wasn't able to do before because of his illness."

He added that Rafael "is already swallowing normally" and within three months he will have normal mobility in his face.

Dr Gonzalez Padilla said the patient "recognised himself" when he first saw himself in a mirror after the surgery, and added: "He didn't see himself as a monster, in fact he thought he looked younger."

Rafael had suffered from the congenital disease neurofibromatosis type 1, formerly known as von Recklinghausen disease, a genetic problem which causes cells to grow abnormally, since birth.

He had benign tumours on two thirds of his face as a result.

Dr Gomez Cia said for Rafael "there was no reconstructive alternative except for a tissue transplant from a dead donor".

Since Rafael's operation, surgeons in Barcelona have carried out the world's first full face transplant.

A farmer whose face was deformed in a shooting accident five years ago underwent the operation at the city's Vall d'Hebron Hospital.

A team of 30 took 24 hours to complete the operation in late March. The patient has not been identified.

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2958670/Face-transplant-man-goes-public.html#ixzz0n56UfP1t

Meet Britain's smallest mum (whose 14-month-old son towers over her)

By Daily Mail Reporter
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Britain's smallest mum told today how her baby son already towers above her - aged just 14 months.

Proud Amanda Moore, 25, became the shortest woman ever to give birth in the UK when son Aidan was delivered by Caesarean section last year.

She suffers from a rare bone disease which has left her measuring just 3ft 1in. But because the condition has left her unable to stand, Aidan already towers above her at 2ft 6in. 


Amanda says Aidan could end up being as tall as his father Steven Fyfe, 20 - who is a lanky 6ft 1in.

Proud mother: Amanda Moore with 14-month-old Aidan, who already towers over her when he stands up

She said: 'Aidan is getting so big, he takes after his dad. I always knew he would be taller than me but he's shot up. When I sit on the floor to play with him, he is taller than me already and he's only 14 months old. He's getting so big and strong that soon we'll have to tell him to be gentle with mummy.

'It's been a struggle because he's been running rings around me since he was crawling. But now he's walking he's more than a handful for someone my size. Most boys are bigger than their mums, but not after a year. He'll always be my little boy.' 


Amanda, of Hinckley, Leicestershire., suffers from brittle bone disorder.
She was born with 14 broken bones and resigned herself to never having children because experts feared that her tiny frame could not cope with a pregnancy. But she accidentally fell pregnant and defied doctors' advice to have an abortion.
Amanda said: 'Doctors advised me to have a termination and we did think about it. I didn't want to die and there was a real and likely possibility that the baby growing inside me would kill me.

'But at the same time I felt a strong love developing for our unborn child I just couldn't dismiss. We both wanted this baby so much.'

Happy family: Steven and Amanda have not ruled out having a second child

She began suffering blackouts at 35 weeks and was rushed to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford after blacking out at an Asda store in Swindon, where she and Steven lived at the time.

Aidan was born on February 27 last year weighing 5lb 5oz and had not inherited his mother's bone condition.

At 14 months, he already tips the scales at 22lb - nearly half the four stone his mother weighs.

She said: 'Soon Aidan will be bigger than me and we are working out how I can move him around the house in my chair while Steven is at work.

'Aidan is starting to say a few words and is really mobile - but he'll never be too big for a telling off from his mum.'

Steven, who works for a taxi firm, said they haven't ruled out having another child even after the stressful pregnancy and the danger of passing on Amanda's condition.

He said: 'It's been a struggle but Aidan is doing so well. He's a big boy and will soon be much bigger than his mother. When Amanda became pregnant doctors told us she or the baby could die, or even both of them.


'But they are both fighting fit and we are a very lucky family. We are not ruling out having another child - Aidan would make a great big brother.'

Boy with 31 fingers and toes

From: http://zuzutop.com/

A 6-year-old boy shows his hands: one with seven fingers and another with eight, in Shengjing Hospital in Shenyang, capital of northeast China’s Liaoning province, on March 22, 2010. Ready to undergo an operation, the boy has a total of 31 fingers and toes, which outnumber the current world record of 25.[Photo/Asianewsphoto]

An X-ray of the feet of the 6-year-old boy who has a total of 31 fingers and toes, which outnumber the current world record of 25.[Photo/Asianewsphoto]

Via asianewsphoto and chinadaily

'Man with the golden arm' saves 2million babies in half a century of donating rare type of blood

By Mail Foreign Service

Life-saver: James Harrison has donated his rare blood nearly 1,000 times

An Australian man who has been donating his extremely rare kind of blood for 56 years has saved the lives of more than two million babies.

James Harrison, 74, has an antibody in his plasma that stops babies dying from Rhesus disease, a form of severe anaemia.

He has enabled countless mothers to give birth to healthy babies, including his own daughter, Tracey, who had a healthy son thanks to her father's blood.

Mr Harrison has been giving blood every few weeks since he was 18 years old and has now racked up a total of 984 donations.

When he started donating, his blood was deemed so special his life was insured for one million Australian dollars.

He was also nicknamed the 'man with the golden arm' or the 'man in two million'.

His blood has since led to the development of a vaccine called Anti-D.

He said: 'I've never thought about stopping. Never.' He made a pledge to be a donor aged 14 after undergoing major chest surgery in which he needed 13 litres of blood.

'I was in hospital for three months,' he said. 'The blood I received saved my life so I made a pledge to give blood when I was 18.'

Just after he started donating he was found to have the rare and life-saving antibody in his blood.

At the time, thousands of babies in Australia were dying each year of Rhesus disease. Other newborns suffered permanent brain damage because of the condition.

The disease creates an incompatibility between the mother's blood and her unborn baby's blood. It stems from one having Rh-positive blood and the other Rh-negative.

After his blood type was discovered, Mr Harrison volunteered to undergo a series of tests to help develop the Anti-D vaccine.

'They insured me for a million dollars so I knew my wife Barbara would be taken care of,' he said.

'I wasn't scared. I was glad to help. I had to sign every form going and basically sign my life away.'

Mr Harrison, dubbed 'the man with the golden arm', is still donating every few weeks at the age of 74. He is thought to have saved 2.2million babies

Mr Harrison is Rh-negative and was given injections of Rh-positive blood.

It was found his plasma could treat the condition and since then it has been given to hundreds of thousands of women.

It has also been given to babies after they are born to stop them developing the disease.

It is estimated he has helped save 2.2 million babies so far.

One of the mothers he has helped is Joy Barnes, who works at the Red Cross Blood Bank in Sydney.

Grateful: Mr Harrison's friend Joy Barnes is one of many mothers who have been able to give birth to healthy babies thanks to his donations

She has known Mr Harrison for 23 years but has only just told him she is one of the countless mothers he has helped.

Ms Barnes, who miscarried at four and five months before having treatment, said: 'Without him I would never have been able to have a healthy baby.'

Speaking to Mr Harrison on an Australian TV show, she said: 'I don't know how to thank you enough.'

His own daughter, Tracey, also had to have the Anti-D injection after the birth of her first son.

She said she was 'proud' of her dad for continuing to give blood, even after the death of her mother after 56 years of marriage.

Mr Harrison said: 'I was back in hospital giving blood a week after Barbara passed away.

'It was sad but life marches on and we have to continue doing what we do. She's up there looking down, so I carry on.'

Mr Harrison is expected to reach the 1,000 donation milestone in September this year

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1259627/Man-golden-arm-James-Harrison-saves-2million-babies-half-century-donating-rare-blood.html#ixzz0jCAZWSYL

The agonising decision faced by the parents of conjoined twins who share a heart... and must be separated

By Mail Foreign Service

It is one of the most agonising decisions any parent could have to make.

Conjoined twins Emma and Taylor Bailey, three, will die if they are not separated because too much strain is being put on their shared heart.

But the odds that even one would survive the complex operation are extremely slim.

Dilemma: Emma and Taylor Bailey share a single heart, but must be separated if they are to survive

No twins born with one heart have ever been separated successfully.

Now doctors say that time is running out for their parents to make their choice.

Emma and Taylor, who are fused from the breastbone to the belly button, have already defied experts once.

Family time: The three-year-old twins with their mother Mandy, who is also mother two four other children

They were expected to live for only 15 minutes because it was thought that their heart would become overworked as soon as they took their first breath.

But doctors say they must be separated in the next year or two to have any chance of survival.

The girls also share a liver. For the surgery to succeed, it is likely that they will both need heart transplants and one will need a new liver.

Miracle: When the girls were born, doctors said they would live for only a few minutes

Their American mother Mandy Bailey, 32, who lives in Arizona, said: 'There's a tiny window of time for a separation. We have to get it completely right, if we wait too long then the operation cannot go ahead.

'In the next year, life for all of us will be drastically different.

'We know we have to make difficult choices. We understand the risks. But we also understand the outcome if we don't do anything.'

Independent: The girls move around using a specially-adapted walker and are able to feed themselves

She said that when the girls were born, all her husband Tor, a 34-yearold builder, had hoped for was to hear them cry just once.

'We were told they would live for minutes and then they would suffocate,' she added. 'The girls were handed to him straight away and they simultaneously inhaled and quietly cried. It was a magical sound.'

The twins' future was still uncertain when they were well enough to be discharged from hospital. They were given oxygen and medication to strengthen their lungs and have astonished doctors with their progress.

They can feed themselves and are learning to get about using a special walker.

Mrs Bailey said: 'The girls are becoming different people and developing adorable little traits. Taylor is the bossy one.

'Emma is a bit crazy, she's always pulling funny faces.' The Baileys have four other children aged 11, nine, seven and two. Emma and Taylor have already had several smaller heart operations.

One in June last year involved placing a band around Emma's aorta to reduce her blood pressure.

Seattle Children's Hospital, which is overseeing the twins' care, does not want to discuss the treatment.

Mrs Bailey said: 'We realise what a great miracle it is for our daughters to be alive and happy. They are a blessing for our family.'

To find out more visit the Two Sisters One Heart Foundation (www.twosistersoneheart.com).

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1256638/Conjoined-twins-share-heart-separated.html#ixzz0htnnH1OK

8-Limbed Boy Needs Surgery to Remove Parasitic Twin

From:

Barcroft/Fame Pictures

This file photo shows Lakshmi at 18-months old.

In 2005, Lakshmi Tatma made headlines around the world after being born with a parasitic twin attached to her hip leaving her with eight limbs. Now, five years later, another child from Bihar, India is dealing with a very similar health condition, the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph is reporting.

SLIDESHOW: Lakshmi Grows Up

Seven-year-old Deepak Paswaan was born with the arms, legs and buttocks of a parasitic twin protruding from his chest. To date, no X–rays or scans have been taken, so the internal effects of his condition are not known at this time.

“This is similar to the way that conjoined twins form,” Dr. Manny Alvarez, managing editor of health at FoxNews.com and Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Science at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey said. “With conjoined twins, you have two living fetuses that are attached either by the head, abdomen or legs. In this particular case, it’s the same principle, except there is a malformation of one of those twins. As a result, the twin never fully develops and is then partially encased in the living fetus.”

Deepak’s parents are searching for a doctor, even though they cannot afford the expensive medical care needed to remove the twin.

"Every day I wish for a good doctor who could cure Deepak so he can live a normal life," his father said.

Alvarez said even if the boy is fortunate enough to find a doctor to remove the twin, the surgery is going to be extremely challenging.

“The problem is, even though this parasitic twin is partially developed, it has blood perfusion. In other words, this little boy’s body is feeding blood into these extra partial limbs of the other twin,” he said. “This is a surgery that would involve a lot of vascular structures, which may make it either impossible or extremely challenging to do. Not all parasitic twins can be successfully removed.”

To determine if the surgery is possible at all, Alvarez said Deepak would have to undergo a series of X-rays and CT Scans to see exactly what the vascular connections are to the tissue of the parasitic twin, and exactly what organs this little boy shares with it.

Still, there is hope for Deepak, especially in the wake of the successful surgery of Lakshmi.

In 2007, her parasitic twin was removed in a pioneering operation. Even though the 4-year-old will need more surgeries as she grows, the youngster is doing incredibly well, even playing sports in school.

Click here read more from the Telegraph.

Click here to see a photo of Deepak from Metro.co.uk.

Boy develops fish scales at 14 months old

This 14-month-old boy born without pores in his skin has baffled medics by developing fish scales.

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Baby Song suffers from the rare and severe condition Lamellar ichthyosis, where the whole body is peeling off like fish skin

Doctors believe Song Sheng, of Jinhu, eastern China, may be suffering from a rare genetic condition that means his body cannot cool itself.

Song Sheng - called fish boy by locals - began developing scales within days of his birth caused by his lack of pores.

Doctors say because he cannot sweat or lose heat through his skin, it peels away in fish-like scales.

Instead, his family controls his body temperature by laying him in baths of ice.

Song Dehui, his father, said: "He is in a lot of pain all the time and if we don't have enough ice he gets a fever."

But doctors have told the family there is still no known cure for the genetic condition, known as Lamellar ichthyosis.

"It can be treated but not cured so we are praying for a miracle or a folk medicine cure," his father said.

To make a donation to help Song Sheng click here

Rare ailment makes girl, 13, look like she’s 50

Zara Hartshorn has lipodystrophy, which makes her look old before her time

By Michael Inbar

TODAYshow.com contributor

TODAY

On the inside, Zara Hartshorn is just like any 13-year-old girl — but on the outside she looks middle-aged due to lipodystrophy, a rare condition she inherited from her mother.

For some folks, turning 50 can trigger a midlife crisis. But due to a cruel blow of nature, Zara Hartshorn is forced to deal with it at the tender age of 13.

Though barely a teen, Zara has the appearance of a 50-year-old, something that saps her confidence just when most young people are striving for self-esteem. The Rotherham, England, teen suffers from lipodystrophy, a syndrome that causes the supporting fatty tissue under the skin to crumble even while the skin continues to grow, often at an alarming rate.

The hereditary condition is extremely rare — only about 2,000 people around the world have it — and for Zara, it has devastating social effects.

Zara’s story, profiled on TODAY Monday, revealed a young girl struggling to find a place in the world despite the teasing and taunts of her peers. Because of her condition, Zara resembled a full-grown woman before she turned 10; now, as a teen, she looks older than many of her peers’ parents.

“[They] call me Grandma,” Zara told NBC News.

A family disease
Sadly, lipodystrophy is a family affair for the Hartshorns: Zara’s mother, Tracey, suffers from the same genetic disorder, as do two of Zara’s siblings. But the affects of lipodystrophy are especially pronounced in Zara; at 13, she looks older than her 21-year-old sister Jolene and 16-year-old brother Tommy, though both also have the disease.

Tracey Hartshorn told The Mirror U.K. newspaper that she realized Zara had the disorder when she was barely home from the hospital.

“I’d seen it all before with my other children — the loose skin, the hollow face and the wrinkles around her chin,” Tracey said. “But I’d never seen a case so severe on a baby so young — my heart sank. I felt so guilty, because when she was a baby I knew the pain she would go through later in life, and I knew I had passed the disorder on.”

Even as a toddler, Zara Hartshorn showed the effects of lipodystrophy.

Zara told NBC News she tries to put on a brave front, but in the face of schoolyard taunts, she finds it hard to even get out of bed four days a week. Bus drivers refuse to believe she is 13 and charge her an adult fare; the same happens when she tries to purchase a children’s ticket at a movie theater.

She told the Mirror she does her best to stand up to bullies at school, but fears for her safety.

“If I can run and hide, I answer back, then run away. But most of the time I just have to take it,” she said. “Otherwise, I’m scared they’ll beat me up.”

Zara’s mother also has lipodystrophy, making her appear older than her 40 years.

Fearing the future
Still, Zara has her dreams of what life will be like as an adult. “I want a job; a part-time job in teaching and a part-time job in beauty therapy,” she told NBC.

Mom Tracey, who at 40 also looks older than her years, told NBC her life has been racked with insecurity as a result of her own lipodystrophy. She’s had a string of bad relationships, and her children are the product of several fathers. Zara’s own father plays no part in her life, she said.

It leaves her fearing all the more for Zara’s future.

“I don’t think there’s any way to protect her,” she told NBC. “She’s always going to have somebody somewhere that will be willing to pick fun, ridicule her.”

While there is no cure for lipdystrophy, cosmetic surgery can mitigate some of the effects — but that option is likely too costly for a family that lives on public assistance.

But Zara still hopes that someday she can receive help and live a more normal life. “I feel if I have my face done, it will give me some more confidence,” she said.

URL: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/35180427/

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Swedish girl 'grows back face' after reaction to Paracetamol

A Swedish teenager has grown back her entire face after an allergic reaction to a single Paracetamol pill caused it to turn black and fall off.

By Bruno Waterfield

Eva Uhlin has finally recovered her looks. Photo: Caters

 

Eva in hospital. Photo: Caters

Eva Uhlin, aged 19, has recovered her looks after suffering a once-in-a-million allergic reaction to the commonly used household pain killer purchased over the counter.
The deadly condition, known as Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, attacked her body causing her skin to blister, burn and to scab.

 

During her illness parts of her chest, arms, back and stomach fell off. At one point the damage to Miss Uhlin's face was so bad that her lips grew together.

"It felt like something was crawling around under my skin, I was in total shock – it was like something out of a horror film," she said.

"I couldn't believe what was happening. I had taken Paracetamol many times before."
Miss Uhlin's nightmare began in September 2005 when she became ill with a fever on holiday.
Then aged 15, she was told to take a couple of Paracetamol tablets to relieve her symptoms but the combination of her virus and the drug created a freak reaction.

The teenager, now working as a waitress, woke up the next day to find blisters covering her face and spreading all over the rest of her body.

"It was terrifying, because at the time they didn't know what was wrong with me or what would happen to me," she said.

"When I looked in the mirror for the first time after it happened I didn't recognise myself."

Eva in hospital. Photo: Caters

After years of treatment at Sweden's University Hospital of Linkoping, Miss Uhlin has finally tried to return to the normal life of teenage girl. But even today she still has to take eye drops twice a day and is sensitive to bright sunlight.

"I've always been a positive person, and I didn't let myself think about the chance that my skin would never be normal again," she said.

"As well as the pain, the affect that the reaction had on my confidence for that time was pretty terrible. I was so ashamed of the way I looked. I hated anybody to see me."

Professor Folke Sjoeberg, one of the doctors who treated Miss Uhlin, said that she had been lucky to recover from the rare condition.

"The condition is very uncommon and it strikes only one in a million people. With this condition you have to just let it run its course because there is no way to stop it," he said. "I'm very glad that Eva has done so well after all that happened." 

Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, also known Lyell's syndrome, kills 40 per cent of sufferers.

Rebecca Freeman, a spokesman for the British Association of Dermatologists, said anybody could be struck down by the disease.

"It is a very rare and severe skin condition," she said. "It can occur in all age groups, although prognosis is worse in the elderly and it is more frequent in females."

Conjoined orphan twins Krishna and Trishna successfully separated after 29-hour operation

By Richard Shears

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Two sisters joined at the head have survived 29 hours of surgery to separate them.

Krishna and Trishna, whose mother died giving birth to them in Bangladesh almost three years ago, were operated on in Melbourne by 16 surgeons.

Anaesthetists, nurses and other medics also worked around the clock in a procedure that lasted 16 hours longer than expected.

Leo Donnan, head of surgery at the Royal Children's Hospital, said it was a once-in-a-lifetime operation for the medical team and every minute was tense.

Trishna (L) and Krishna (R), the Bangladeshi set of twins joined at the head before the operation to separate them

The toddlers have a 25 per cent chance of making it through without any harm at all - and there was also the strong possibility that one or both could die.

But after a team of 16 surgeons, assisted by anaesthetists, nurses and other medical staff had worked around the clock in rotation, Mr Donnan stepped from the operating theatre to announce with a smile: 'They have been successfully separated.'

The dangerous operation had taken nearly 13 hours longer than anticipated - including 27 hours to separate the little girls, aged two years and 11 months, and a further two hours of work by plastic surgeons to seal the ensuing holes in their heads.

And although Mr Donnan said there was 'still is a long way to go' with the girls having a 'very difficult time ahead of them,' he said that the way the operation had gone was an historic moment for the hospital and for the twins 'an even more historic moment.'

The Royal Children's Hospital surgical team operate to separate twins Krishna and Trishna

Leo Donnan (C), chief of surgery at Royal Children's Hospital, speaks to the media after Australian doctors successfully separated the twins

The twins had come to the attention of a Melbourne-based organisation, Children First Foundation, which arranged for them to be flown to Australia for an operation that could give them a new start in life - if successful.

After weeks of careful planning, studying X-rays and monitoring the children's daily health and behaviour, the medical teams arranged their working hours, fully aware that the task ahead would not be easy.

On Monday Krishna and Trishna were anaesthetised and placed faced down on two adjoining operating tables. Plastic surgeons stepped forward to open up the skin and then neurosurgeons carefully opened a small area in the skull.

This 'window' allowed surgeons to insert their instruments to separate the brain tissue and blood vessels at the back of the girls' heads.

Krishna and Trishna pictured a year after they were born

Next the twins were carefully lifted and turned over so they were face up, enabling surgeons to complete the separation of the skulls.

Bone had to be severed and connecting tissue separated.

Finally, for the first time, the twins were able to be moved apart and two teams of plastic surgeons set to work sealing the holes in their skulls.

'This is a once-in-a-lifetime operation that teams would do,' said Mr Donnan, adding that the mood inside the operating theatre, where every minute was filled with tension, had changed after the separation.

'It's been a very nice stage to move into,' he said.

And there had been concerns, with problems occurring with Krishna's kidney, but when that crisis eased everyone, according to plastic surgeon Tony Holmes, 'was particularly optimistic and excited.'

He explained there had been a great deal of preparatory work before the operation could even begin.

'There's a lot of mucking around at the beginning of an operation like this,' said Mr Holmes.

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• See more pictures of the operation here

'It's mainly for positioning and getting all the tubes right so there's no pressure on the eyes, no kinks in the tubes.'

Mr Holmes and another plastic surgeon, Andrew Greensmith stripped back the skin and that allowed neurosurgeons to create a one inch by seven inch window in the skull so that surgeons Wirginia Maixner and Alison Wray could separate blood vessels and brain matter.

Later the plastic surgeons came back to the girls, closing the brain lining and skulls with artificial caps and closing the skin.

The twins are now in intensive care. It will be weeks before it is known if the operation has been 100 per cent successful - but surgeons said they were remaining optimistic.

• How doctors worked a medical miracle and separated the twins:
  

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