why can’t limbs be transplanted to the needy just like heart, eyes etc ?
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There are several reasons, two of the biggest are that connecting the thousands of nerves correctly is difficult if not impossible. The other is for bones that contain marrow the donor would have to be a bone marrow match which is a pretty small pool of potential donors, otherwise you have graft vs host disease.
There are several reasons, two of the biggest are that connecting the thousands of nerves correctly is difficult if not impossible. The other is for bones that contain marrow the donor would have to be a bone marrow match which is a pretty small pool of potential donors, otherwise you have graft vs host disease.
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You can connect the limb itself, but making it usable involves connecting all the muscles, tendons, everything and hoping the body doesn’t reject it too much.
It’s why it’s taken us so long to get artificial limbs that cab be sorta moved while paired with lots of physical therapy, except there is slightly less worry of the body rejecting the artificial limb. And artificial limbs are crazy expensive, if memory serves. Even cosmetic prosthetics are very expensive. I’ll admit I don’t know all the science, but growing up I had the exact same question.
You can connect the limb itself, but making it usable involves connecting all the muscles, tendons, everything and hoping the body doesn’t reject it too much.
It’s why it’s taken us so long to get artificial limbs that cab be sorta moved while paired with lots of physical therapy, except there is slightly less worry of the body rejecting the artificial limb. And artificial limbs are crazy expensive, if memory serves. Even cosmetic prosthetics are very expensive. I’ll admit I don’t know all the science, but growing up I had the exact same question.
From what surgeons have explained to me sewing on arms is easy, but attaching nerves is like trying to blindly place one needle tip inside of another without stabbing yourself.
From what surgeons have explained to me sewing on arms is easy, but attaching nerves is like trying to blindly place one needle tip inside of another without stabbing yourself.
1) There are thousands of nerves that need to be connected just to use an arm. That is a lot of work, and even if you took on such a massive feat, they still may never work properly.
2) Would you wanna be on immunosuppressants for the rest of your life just to have an arm or leg that you may never have full use of? It’s not likely to increase quality of life in most cases, and the costs & risks of the surgery are just not worth the gain.
1) There are thousands of nerves that need to be connected just to use an arm. That is a lot of work, and even if you took on such a massive feat, they still may never work properly.
2) Would you wanna be on immunosuppressants for the rest of your life just to have an arm or leg that you may never have full use of? It’s not likely to increase quality of life in most cases, and the costs & risks of the surgery are just not worth the gain.
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