Pig heart transplant man dies

[T00ts]

As a rider to John's comments and as I have probably mentioned before, it is my ambition to spend as long retired as I did in work, which was (officially) 51 years. So I need to survive another 42 years. And right now most every medical procedure is a risk

I like pigs, but if it comes to me or Porky, well oink to that

I just want to say that despite the criticism aimed at your humour recently I for one enjoy it and look forward to your light-hearted posts.  

[Borchester]

Donning the white coat for a moment, yes I'd have misgivings too.

The first thing I think I need to say is early heart transplants were not exactly promising were they. Yet today they offer a reasonable degree of hope.

The issue here sounds like something out of gothic horror but there are two separate things to remember.

First and foremost, the doctor's chose a pig as the donor animal because it shares a huge amount of its genome with us and that reduces problems at the cellular metabolic level..it's no good fitting you with an animal organ if the donor animal has a cellular pathway radically different from our own.

The second thing to bear in mind is the fact any person given this type of surgery is dosed up to the eyeballs with drugs designed to reduce their immune systems efficiency in order to stop the body rejecting the transplant.

The guy could have died of the common cold at any moment, it's unfortunate he died of a pig disease that I suppose few healthier humans are troubled with, even pig farmers....

Sad, but had dice rolled the other way he might have lived for decades.

As a rider to John's comments and as I have probably mentioned before, it is my ambition to spend as long retired as I did in work, which was (officially) 51 years. So I need to survive another 42 years. And right now most every medical procedure is a risk

I like pigs, but if it comes to me or Porky, well oink to that

[johnofgwent]

I'll try to explain — once a disease has bridged the species barrier, those infected won't/don't necessarily need to have had any implants to have been receptive, or to be infectious to others.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-zoonotic-diseases/list-of-zoonotic-diseases

My misgivings stem from the worry that as humans are already vulnerable to a variety of animal-hosted diseases — see above — it seems unwise to make the pathway easier for such ailments without much more research.

I admit that usually I'd be content to accept the assurances of the experts in their fields. But I was alerted to these concerns by a surgeon with over 20 years experience in transplants...

Donning the white coat for a moment, yes I'd have misgivings too.

The first thing I think I need to say is early heart transplants were not exactly promising were they. Yet today they offer a reasonable degree of hope.

The issue here sounds like something out of gothic horror but there are two separate things to remember.

First and foremost, the doctor's chose a pig as the donor animal because it shares a huge amount of its genome with us and that reduces problems at the cellular metabolic level..it's no good fitting you with an animal organ if the donor animal has a cellular pathway radically different from our own.

The second thing to bear in mind is the fact any person given this type of surgery is dosed up to the eyeballs with drugs designed to reduce their immune systems efficiency in order to stop the body rejecting the transplant.

The guy could have died of the common cold at any moment, it's unfortunate he died of a pig disease that I suppose few healthier humans are troubled with, even pig farmers....

Sad, but had dice rolled the other way he might have lived for decades.

[Barry]

I'll try to explain — once a disease has bridged the species barrier, those infected won't/don't necessarily need to have had any implants to have been receptive, or to be infectious to others.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-zoonotic-diseases/list-of-zoonotic-diseases

My misgivings stem from the worry that as humans are already vulnerable to a variety of animal-hosted diseases, it seems unwise to make the pathway easier for such ailments without much more research.

I admit that usually I'd be content to accept the assurances of the experts in their fields. But I was alerted to these concerns by a surgeon with over 20 years experience in transplants...

Wow! That is an incredible response Pat. Great link, too. 

[patman post]

The JWs would never accept a pig's heart, Pat. Are you being deliberately obtuse, I know it is one of your tactics.
Pigs are dirty things, after all.

I'll try to explain — once a disease has bridged the species barrier, those infected won't/don't necessarily need to have had any implants to have been receptive, or to be infectious to others.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-zoonotic-diseases/list-of-zoonotic-diseases

My misgivings stem from the worry that as humans are already vulnerable to a variety of animal-hosted diseases — see above — it seems unwise to make the pathway easier for such ailments without much more research.

I admit that usually I'd be content to accept the assurances of the experts in their fields. But I was alerted to these concerns by a surgeon with over 20 years experience in transplants...

[Barry]

I doubt that any disease would recognise the religion of the person it was afflicting once it had jumped between species.

Certain religious practices may provide limited protection for some diseases, but that seems a weak reason to incur more dangers...

The JWs would never accept a pig's heart, Pat. Are you being deliberately obtuse, I know it is one of your tactics.
Pigs are dirty things, after all.

[patman post]

Don't suppose the JWs and various other religious groups would ever have this problem.

I doubt that any disease would recognise the religion of the person it was afflicting once it had jumped between species.

Certain religious practices may provide limited protection for some diseases, but that seems a weak reason to incur more dangers...

[Barry]

Don't suppose the JWs and various other religious groups would ever have this problem.

[patman post]

David Bennett, the 57-year-old patient who survived two months after undergoing a landmark pig heart transplant may have died of a pig virus, his transplant surgeon announced last month.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/06/man-landmark-pig-heart-transplant-death-pig-virus

I admit that I am no scientist, but with diseases having been shown to leap between species (for good as well as ill), ever since I heard of breeding pigs for spare parts I thought it posed dangers — and not just for individual patient recipients...