January 19, 2006

People unclear on the concept -- medical division

The French woman who had the face transplant a few months ago has resumed her habit of smoking. From CBS News:
New Face, New Lips, Old Habit
The world's first face transplant recipient is using her new lips to take up smoking again, which doctors fear could interfere with her healing and raise the risk of tissue rejection.

"It is a problem," Dr. Jean-Michel Dubernard, who led the team that performed the pioneering transplant in France on Nov. 27, acknowledged on Wednesday.

The woman's French surgeons made their first scientific presentation on the partial face transplant at a medical conference in Tucson this week, the 6th International Symposium on Composite Tissue Allotransplantation.

The news about her smoking came even as American surgeons said that they were growing more comfortable with the French doctors' decision to try the operation and that they hoped to offer such transplants to more patients.
WTF??? She was not smoking for a few months after the surgery so the chemical dependency is gone, it's the psychological dependency that is driving this. She surely realizes that there is no history of how people will react to this -- what happens if she rejects the transplant. After all, smoking causes a pronounced restriction in the blood flow in the smaller vessels and capillaries. Sheesh! Posted by DaveH at January 19, 2006 10:28 AM
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