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2023-07-19 20:46

More than 700 million people don't know when — or if — they will eat again, UN food chief says
The head of the United Nations food agency says a global hunger crisis has left more than 700 million people not knowing when or if they will eat again
2023-09-15 13:49

Bring The Spa To You With A Silk Robe That’s Perfect For Lounging
Keeping a lush silk robe around the house is one of the easiest ways to feel like you're at the spa without shelling out the big bucks for a top-notch facial. Comfortable and a little froufrou, the best silk robes are fun swaps from your usual matching sweatsuits and reliable black leggings. And though they're functional, they also have an air of old-Hollywood glam. (Tell us you don't channel your inner Marilyn Monroe in a vintage dressing gown, and we'll tell you that you're lounging wrong.)
2023-10-21 05:19

E-40 discusses new album, being an underrated hip-hop legend and cookbook with Snoop Dogg
E-40 created his own lane with an unorthodox rap flow that’s worked for more than 30 years
2023-11-18 00:21

MSI Modern 15 (2023) Review
It's been 37 years since Huey Lewis and the News said it was hip to
2023-11-23 02:58

Driscoll’s Emerges as One of America’s Top Ten Retail Grocery Brands
WATSONVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 25, 2023--
2023-07-25 21:18

US makes new Alzheimer's drug more widely accessible
The US drug regulator gave full approval to a new Alzheimer's medicine on Thursday, a move that makes it more widely available to the public through...
2023-07-07 06:20

Russian tour operators beg Crimea vacationers not to cancel trips following bridge attack
Russian tour operators are pleading with vacationers to Crimea not to make decisions "based on emotions," as Ukraine's strike on the Crimea bridge on Monday played havoc on travel between the occupied Ukrainian peninsula and Russia.
2023-07-18 23:45

How did surgeons carry out Britain’s first womb transplant?
Surgeons worked all day and into the night to ensure Britain’s first womb transplant went smoothly. Its success is down to meticulous research, years of sharing knowledge between experts around the globe, and the hard work and dedication of doctors Professor Richard Smith, from Imperial College London, and Isabel Quiroga, from the Oxford Transplant Centre. Around 50 babies have been born worldwide as a result of womb transplants, which give women missing a functioning uterus a chance to have a baby. In the first UK case, the operation to remove the womb from the recipient’s 40-year-old sister lasted eight hours and 12 minutes, with surgeons leaving her ovaries behind to prevent pushing her into early menopause. One hour earlier, surgeons began operating on the 34-year-old recipient, preparing her body to receive the donated organ. This operation lasted nine hours and 20 minutes, with the surgical team experiencing some difficulties including a higher-than-expected blood loss of two litres. However, after just 10 days, the recipient was well enough to leave the hospital and has continued to have a good recovery. She is also having regular periods, which shows the womb is working well. Her sister was discharged five days after her donor operation and has also made a good recovery. Removing a womb is a similar operation to a radical hysterectomy, according to Prof Smith, who as well as being a gynaecological surgeon is the clinical lead at the charity Womb Transplant UK. He and Miss Quiroga led the team of more than 30 staff who worked on the transplant one Sunday in February. Prof Smith and Miss Quiroga removed the older sister’s womb, cervix and fallopian tubes, plus crucial blood vessels around the organ. The main vessels are the uterine arteries running into the womb, but the surgeons also aimed to collect some of the larger internal vessels that lead into the smaller branch of the womb. Prof Smith said surgeons doing these operations have to retrieve veins involved in the drainage of the womb. “One of the amazing things is that my surgical skill-mix as a cancer surgeon is to remove organs with a margin of normal tissue, while sealing the vessels as I go,” he said. “Transplant surgical skills are different – that is to remove a normal organ with the best number of non-sealed vessels as you can. “Isabel and I operate together with no ego – it just flows backwards and forwards across the table.” He added: “The day itself was truly humbling. We turned up at 7am at the Churchill transplant centre with the donor and the recipient families, then we went into a pre-op huddle. Those in the huddle included surgeons, nurses, anaesthetists and technicians. Prof Smith and Miss Quiroga worked to remove the womb, before the organ was prepared for transplantation by a “back table” team. “This was an organ which had a very, very unusual blood supply,” Prof Smith said. “In fact, it had a set of blood vessels which I’ve never seen in my entire career. They made my dissection a bit harder than it might have been, but we got there.” In the theatre next door, one hour before the retrieval of the womb was completed, surgeons began to operate on the donor’s younger sister to enable her to receive the womb. Prof Smith and Miss Quiroga switched from donor to recipient and Prof Smith removed the vestiges of the underdeveloped womb the recipient was born with. Meanwhile, the organ was packed and transported between the two theatres under sterile conditions to prevent contamination. A sterile bag with a cold perfusion solution contained the womb, which was then placed into a container with ice. During surgery, ligaments attached to the womb were attached to the recipient to help the womb stay in a relatively fixed place so it does not move around the pelvis. The most important part of the transplant operation was the joining of the very small vessels that give the blood supply to the womb. This was the most delicate and difficult part of the operation and was led by Miss Quiroga. Once all the vessels were connected, the donor’s vaginal cuff – around a 1cm part – was stitched into her sister’s vagina. If and when the recipient is able to complete her family, the womb will be removed six months later to prevent her from needing immunosuppressants for the rest of her life. Prof Smith said: “We know that the chance of failure at the point where the uterus goes in – if you look at the world literature – is 20 per cent to 25 per cent. And that failure is usually on the basis on sepsis and thrombosis. So technically, we are up to the job, but what happens thereafter can be scary. “Once you get to three or four days later, the chance of failure drops to probably less than 10 per cent. “Once you get to two weeks – and at the point where the woman has a period – the chance of her having a baby at that point is very high and the chance of failure has dropped to low. But those first two weeks – it’s very scary as a surgeon to watch and wait.” Biopsies to check the womb was functioning were read in London but then also confirmed by an expert team in the US at Baylor University Medical Centre in Dallas, where other womb transplants have been performed. Prof Smith said the procedure gives new hope to women born with devastating conditions. He said: “You’ve got girls, maybe 14, who have not had periods, they go to the GP and a scan shows there is no uterus. Absolute catastrophe. “Up until now, there’s been no solution for that, other than adoption or surrogacy... That’s not the case now. It’s really exciting.” On whether transgender women may also benefit from the operation, Prof Smith said that was still a long way off. He said the pelvic anatomy, vascular anatomy and shape of the pelvis are different, and there are microbiome issues to overcome. “My own sense is if there are transgender transplants that are going to take place, they are many years off. There are an awful lot of steps to go through. My suspicion is a minimum of 10 to 20 years.” Miss Quiroga said the living donor programme to date in the UK has focused on women with relatives who are willing to give their wombs. “It will come to a point where we will have friends or altruistic donors, like we have with many other transplants, but at the moment we’re only focused on people who have come forward with relatives,” she said. Read More Bursts of activity that make you huff and puff ‘linked to reduced cancer risk’ Fiona Phillips, 62, reveals she has Alzheimer’s disease Woman has all her teeth removed after rare vomiting condition causes them to fall out Bursts of activity that make you huff and puff ‘linked to reduced cancer risk’ Fiona Phillips, 62, reveals she has Alzheimer’s disease Woman has all her teeth removed after rare vomiting condition causes them to fall out
2023-08-23 07:20

Save up to $170 on Dyson cordless vacuums at Walmart during its anti-Prime Day sale
SAVE UP TO $170: It's anti-Prime Day at Walmart, aka the Walmart Deals Holiday Kickoff
2023-10-11 01:59

New tech boosts Dutch drive for sustainable farming
In the Netherlands, experiments are underway to ensure future food supply and cut carbon emissions.
2023-09-04 07:22

Isolated Putin tries to shore up African support as Kremlin seethes over poor summit turnout
A summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and African leaders began in St. Petersburg on Thursday, with a far lower turnout than previous years.
2023-07-28 00:28
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