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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Quintal on May 1, 2008, at 13:11:35
The amazing 'pixie dust' made from pigs bladder that regrew a severed finger in FOUR weeks
By FIONA MACRAE -Scientists are claiming an amazing breakthrough - regrowing a man's severed finger with the aid of an experimental powder.
Four weeks after Lee Spievack sliced almost half an inch off the top of one of his fingers, he said it had grown back to its original length.
Four months later it looked like any other finger, complete with "great feeling", a fingernail and fingerprint.
The secret to the astonishing regrowth is said to be the powder described by Mr Spievack, a Cincinnati model shop salesman, as "pixie dust".
More properly known as extra-cellular matrix, it is bursting with collagen, the protein that gives skin its strength and elasticity, and is made from dried pig's bladder.
It was developed to regenerate damaged ligaments in horses. "The second time I put it on I could already see growth," said Mr Spievack, 69.
"Each day it was up further. Finally it closed up and was a finger. It took about four weeks before it was sealed."
Mr Spievack damaged his finger in the propeller of a model plane three years ago. He turned down a skin graft in favour of the "pixie dust" recommended by his brother, a former surgeon and the founder of the firm that makes the powder.
While it is not entirely clear how the powder works, its developers believe it kick-starts the body's natural healing process by sending out signals that mobilise the body's own cells into repairing the damaged tissue.
Dr Stephen Badylak, of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, told the BBC: "There are all sorts of signals in the body.
"We have got signals that are good for forming scar tissue and others that are good for regenerating tissues.
"One way to think about these matrices is that we've taken out many of the stimuli for scar tissue formation and left those signals which were always there for constructive remodelling."
In other words, the powder directs tissues to grow afresh rather than form scars.
"We're not smart enough to figure out how to regrow a finger," said Dr Badylak.
"Maybe what we can do is bring all of the pieces of the puzzle to the right place and then let Mother Nature take its course. There's a lot more that we don't know than we do know."
But Professor Stephen Kaye, a consultant plastic and hand surgeon at Leeds University, poured cold water on Dr Badylak's claims.
Asked if he was surprised that Mr Spievack's finger "grew back" he said: "Not in the slightest."
Prof Kaye added: "The pictures I've seen on the web show a wound I would have expected to heal and regenerate in any case.
"The end of the finger is extremely good at regeneration. The pictures we've seen on the web show no evidence of loss of bone, nerve or tendon material, but regeneration and repair of skin - which is exactly what the fingertip does."
He added that the photographs appeared to portray a "very commonplace transverse amputation of the very end of the fingertip" and not someone who had lost the last phalanx of his finger, as Dr Badylak claimed.
Prof Kaye said extra-cellular matrix was an acknowldged way of promoting wound healing, but pointed out that there was a "big difference" between healing and regeneration.
"I don't want people to have false hopes," he told the Radio 4's The World Tonight news programme.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=563099&in_page_id=1965&ct=5Q
Posted by Phillipa on May 1, 2008, at 13:29:34
In reply to Severed Finger Grows Back With 'Pixie Dust', posted by Quintal on May 1, 2008, at 13:11:35
Q there seriously must be something in pigs as they put pigskin on the cornea that wouldn't heal in a family member. It helped hold the hole together that was punctured by a doc. So I for one believe it. Phillipa
Posted by Quintal on May 1, 2008, at 13:42:15
In reply to Re: Severed Finger Grows Back With 'Pixie Dust' » Quintal, posted by Phillipa on May 1, 2008, at 13:29:34
Well they say pig tissue is the closest match to human tissue. Supposed to taste the same as human flesh too. I suppose that might be why.
Q
Posted by Phillipa on May 1, 2008, at 20:10:37
In reply to Re: Severed Finger Grows Back With 'Pixie Dust' » Phillipa, posted by Quintal on May 1, 2008, at 13:42:15
Really? Don't think I want to eat it again then. Love Phillipa
Posted by Molybdenum on May 2, 2008, at 6:23:51
In reply to Re: Severed Finger Grows Back With 'Pixie Dust' » Quintal, posted by Phillipa on May 1, 2008, at 20:10:37
I wonder if Bobbitt has tried it???
Posted by octothorpe on May 2, 2008, at 7:42:32
In reply to Severed Finger Grows Back With 'Pixie Dust', posted by Quintal on May 1, 2008, at 13:11:35
Can it make my johnson any... pigger?
No? No-one? Pigger?
I'll see myself out.
Posted by Molybdenum on May 3, 2008, at 1:09:13
In reply to Re: Severed Finger Grows Back With 'Pixie Dust', posted by octothorpe on May 2, 2008, at 7:42:32
I remember having a bath on LSD - well, the bath was in the bathroom & I was in it, but the LSD was in me - so I suppose we were both there "taking a bath", or should I say that all 3 of us were in the bathroom?
Anyway, I had decided to kill myself. I was 19 and it seemed to make perfect sense. Obviously before I did it I had to take a bath & get dressed up. I mean, if you're going to be formal about anything, then this is it, right? Right..!
OK, so we were in the bath & I remember my feet looked reeeaaaalllly L-O-N-G. I remember laughing. They looked very hobbit-like. :)
The LSD wore off & I decided not to die. ;)
Relevancy to this thread? Well....Hmmm......
Posted by octothorpe on May 3, 2008, at 7:36:54
In reply to Re: Severed Finger Grows Back With 'Pixie Dust', posted by Molybdenum on May 3, 2008, at 1:09:13
Sheesh. I am glad nothing happened, for gosh sake!
If this thread is serious, I would say I saw mention of this back at the beginning of 2007. Although I believe it is possible to regrow part of a finger (small kids can do it without 'pigxie' dust), I also believe some serious research is needed, by more than just the owner of this company, who seems to be quite interested in publicity.
Regards,
Tom
This is the end of the thread.
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