Truman Doughty revived the head. A scientist revived a dead head? From monkeys to humans

The incredible experiments of Dr. Truman Doughty ended in triumph. His wife Brenda died a few years ago, but her head remained "alive". According to Doughty, she is able to communicate with through a special device.

Now humanity is constantly faced with the problem of lack of living space on land, which occupies only a fifth of the globe. This circumstance makes people look for living spaces in the depths of the oceans.

The first step in the development of underwater resources has already been taken: today huge plantations of algae, fish, and crustaceans are being created. And the presence of huge deposits of minerals at the bottom of the oceans brings us closer to the fact that huge underwater plants will be built under water.

That is, humanity will have to explore the bowels of the ocean in the near future. But how to make it possible for a person without the presence of special devices. Only the fictional character of Belyaev's novel "The Amphibian Man" - Ichthyander, could exist under water without scuba gear. Belyaev's idea of ​​transplanting shark gills into humans became so attractive that many who read his novel in the 1940s considered it a reality. Famous Soviet surgeon Kopylov F.A. in his book "Tales of Surgeons" gives an interesting fact.

“... One of the practicing surgeons said that a young man approached him, who begged to transplant him, in order to be able to breathe under water, the gill of a fish ...”, but until recently, to do this was considered beyond fantasy.

But more recently, at the Cape Town Clinic, a young man whose lungs were affected as a result of advanced tuberculosis received shark gills transplanted free of charge. The guy refused a lung transplant, because he did not have the funds for this operation, and he was offered a lung transplant for free. The transplant was successful. Now scientists are monitoring the patient for possible rejection of transplanted organs. If this is true, then soon he will be able to swim underwater like a real Ichthyander.

You should also remember the novel "Professor Dowell's Head", in which Dowell created a special solution, thanks to which a person's head can lead a full life without a body. Dowell believed that his invention would benefit people.

In 1902, the Russian scientist Kulyabko A.A. after trying to revive the heart of a dead child, tried to revive the head.

At first he experimented with the head of a fish. Through the circulatory system, a special blood-substituting fluid was connected to the head. As a result, the head could move its eyes and fins, which clearly indicated that the head was alive.

Soviet scientists achieved more in 1928, they were able to maintain life in a dog's head. Connected to a special circulatory machine, the dog's head was quite active.

In the 70s of the last century, German neurosurgeons managed to maintain life in a human head for 20 days, which lost its body due to the following circumstances. A man was admitted to the hospital after a car accident, his head was almost devoid of a torso, and there could be no talk of salvation at all.

But the doctors decided to try to keep life at least in the patient's head. A life support system was connected to his head, which kept the human brain active for almost a month. In addition, doctors could find a “common language” with the “head” - many words could be read by the movement of the lips, which clearly indicated that the patient’s head understood what was happening to it.

After all, Truman Doughty did the impossible. His wife's fatal illness prompted him to develop new technologies. And he decided to save her head. And according to Doughty, he succeeded, for several years his wife's head lives without a body. Moreover, she can communicate with the help of a special device.

It's hard to believe, but one thing is certain, that Belyaev's fantastic ideas are becoming a reality.

Tags: Scientists

Today, humanity is faced with the fact that its needs cannot be fully satisfied at the expense of land, because it occupies only a fifth of the planet's surface. This is what makes earthlings penetrate into the depths of the seas, where inexhaustible riches are stored.

The first steps in mastering the "world without the sun" have already been made. Artificial plantations of algae, pastures of fish, crustaceans and mollusks are being created, and the discovery of huge reserves of manganese, iron and other minerals at the bottom of the ocean is rapidly bringing us closer to the time when plants and factories can be erected on the continental shelf, mines will start working, next to which will be underwater settlements.

So, man has to explore the depths of the ocean. But how to do that? It is known that only the hero of A. Belyaev's science fiction novel "The Amphibian Man" - Ichthyander, who was transplanted shark gills by a brilliant surgeon, managed to exist under water. It must be said that the fiction of A. Belyaev was so attractive and seemed so plausible that some even at the end of the 40s of our (!) Century accepted it as a reality. In his fascinating book "Stories about Surgeons", the famous Soviet doctor F.A. Kopylov cites an interesting fact.

“One of the surgeons working on the outskirts of the Soviet Union said that a village guy approached him with a request to transplant fish gills into him. Sharks are not found in those parts, and the guy chose catfish gills for himself. To swim for hours under water, as depicted in the novel "This man was ready for anything. He thought of everything and foresaw everything. The guy even offered to issue a special receipt so that the surgeon would not be stopped by the possibility of a fatal outcome of the operation."

To make such an operation, despite the high level of development of medicine, until recently was considered impossible. However, recently the entire scientific world was shocked by a sensational message. In Cape Town, in the clinic, which was once directed by C. Bernard, who was the first to successfully perform a heart transplant on a human, another stunning operation was performed.

Shark gills were transplanted to a Negro youth afflicted with pulmonary insufficiency (the result of advanced tuberculosis). The patient refused a donor lung transplant, explaining this as follows. First, he does not have enough money to pay the cost of this organ and operation. And he was offered to do a gill transplant for free, at the expense of the scientific fund. Secondly, the young man himself was disappointed in his way of life on earth and wanted to start all over again, already in the ocean. The operation went well. Now the doctors are carefully watching whether the reaction of rejection of the transplanted organ will begin, trying to prevent this with the help of special preparations.

If all of the above is not an information duck, then the real Ichthyander will swim in the ocean very soon! And now remember A. Belyaev's novel "Professor Dowell's Head". Scientist Dowell created a solution with which the human head can lead a relatively full life. He is convinced that his discovery will benefit people, but can it really be? Wow, absolutely unrealistic! - the educated reader will exclaim. However, do not be so categorical.

In 1902, the famous Russian physiologist A.A. Kulyabko, after reviving the child's heart (taken out of a corpse, it acted outside the body for several hours), tried to revive the head.

At first it was the head of a fish. Through the blood vessels, a special liquid was brought to the head - a blood substitute. The result was incredible: the head moved its eyes and fins, opened and closed its mouth - all this eloquently testified that it was alive!

In 1928, physiologists S.S. Bryukhonenko and S.I. Chechulin showed the living head of a warm-blooded animal - a dog. Connected to a heart-lung machine, she was quite active. When a tampon moistened with acid was placed on the tongue of a dog's head, he made an attempt to throw out the irritant; if a piece of sausage was placed in his mouth, the head would lick. When a jet of air was directed into the eyes, they blinked.

In 1959, successful experiments with dog heads were repeatedly conducted by Professor V.P. Demikhov. At the same time, he was convinced that it is quite possible to support life in the human head.

Well, now about the most incredible thing: have similar experiments been carried out with the human head? This question is not easy and is associated with moral and deep social problems that surgeons will inevitably face when transplanting the head of one person to the body of another. Therefore, this kind of information is always under the cloak of secrecy.

And yet, in the mid-70s, a sensational message flashed through the press. Two German neurosurgeons, Wallner Kreiter and Henry Curidge, managed to keep an amputated human head alive for twenty days. A 40-year-old man who had just been injured in a car accident was brought to the clinic. His head was almost torn off from the body, there was no question of saving a person.

In this situation, neurosurgeons decided to try to keep life at least in the brain of the victim. A life support system was connected to the head, and for almost three weeks after that it kept the brain of a person whose body had long been dead in an active state. Moreover, the doctors made contact with the head. True, she could not speak, she did not have a throat, however, by the movement of her lips, scientists "read" a lot of words, from which it clearly followed that she understood what was happening to her.

Finally, Philadelphia physician Truman Doughty did the seemingly impossible. In 1989, his wife Brenda was diagnosed with cancer. The terrible news prompted Truman to develop a life support device. The disease progressed rapidly, and the doctor lost hope of saving the dying. And then he made an attempt to save his head.

The entire operation took about six hours. Doughty knew full well that he could go to jail on a murder charge. The doctor risked, but, as it turned out, risked not in vain. The fantastic experiment ended in triumph. By the way, Brenda did not doubt for a minute that the operation was necessary and agreed to it. For several years, Truman hid that his wife's head was alive and well. Only recently the world learned about an incredible event. According to Doughty, Brenda is able to speak with the help of a special device.

It is difficult to believe in all this, but one thing is clear: the scientific ideas of Alexander Belyaev have become a reality.

Alexander Potapov, "Continent"

Today, humanity is faced with the fact that its needs cannot be fully satisfied at the expense of land, because it occupies only a fifth of the planet's surface. This is what makes earthlings penetrate into the depths of the seas, where inexhaustible riches are stored.

The first steps in mastering the "world without the sun" have already been made. Artificial plantations of algae, pastures of fish, crustaceans and mollusks are being created, and the discovery of huge reserves of manganese, iron and other minerals at the bottom of the ocean is rapidly bringing us closer to the time when plants and factories can be erected on the continental shelf, mines will start working, next to which will be underwater settlements.

So, man has to explore the depths of the ocean. But how to do that? It is known that only the hero of A. Belyaev's science fiction novel "The Amphibian Man" - Ichthyander, who was transplanted shark gills by a brilliant surgeon, managed to exist under water. It must be said that the fiction of A. Belyaev was so attractive and seemed so plausible that some even at the end of the 40s of our (!) Century accepted it as a reality. In his fascinating book "Stories about Surgeons", the famous Soviet doctor F.A. Kopylov cites an interesting fact.

“One of the surgeons working on the outskirts of the Soviet Union said that a village guy approached him with a request to transplant fish gills into him. Sharks are not found in those parts, and the guy chose catfish gills for himself. To swim for hours under water, as depicted in the novel "This man was ready for anything. He thought of everything and foresaw everything. The guy even offered to issue a special receipt so that the surgeon would not be stopped by the possibility of a fatal outcome of the operation."

To make such an operation, despite the high level of development of medicine, until recently was considered impossible. However, recently the entire scientific world was shocked by a sensational message. In Cape Town, in the clinic, which was once directed by C. Bernard, who was the first to successfully perform a heart transplant on a human, another stunning operation was performed.

Shark gills were transplanted to a Negro youth afflicted with pulmonary insufficiency (the result of advanced tuberculosis). The patient refused a donor lung transplant, explaining this as follows. First, he does not have enough money to pay the cost of this organ and operation. And he was offered to do a gill transplant for free, at the expense of the scientific fund. Secondly, the young man himself was disappointed in his way of life on earth and wanted to start all over again, already in the ocean. The operation went well. Now the doctors are carefully watching whether the reaction of rejection of the transplanted organ will begin, trying to prevent this with the help of special preparations.

If all of the above is not an information duck, then the real Ichthyander will swim in the ocean very soon! And now remember A. Belyaev's novel "Professor Dowell's Head". Scientist Dowell created a solution with which the human head can lead a relatively full life. He is convinced that his discovery will benefit people, but can it really be? Wow, absolutely unrealistic! - the educated reader will exclaim. However, do not be so categorical.

In 1902, the famous Russian physiologist A.A. Kulyabko, after reviving the child's heart (taken out of a corpse, it acted outside the body for several hours), tried to revive the head.

At first it was the head of a fish. Through the blood vessels, a special liquid was brought to the head - a blood substitute. The result was incredible: the head moved its eyes and fins, opened and closed its mouth - all this eloquently testified that it was alive!

In 1928, physiologists S.S. Bryukhonenko and S.I. Chechulin showed the living head of a warm-blooded animal - a dog. Connected to a heart-lung machine, she was quite active. When a tampon moistened with acid was placed on the tongue of a dog's head, he made an attempt to throw out the irritant; if a piece of sausage was placed in his mouth, the head would lick. When a jet of air was directed into the eyes, they blinked.

In 1959, successful experiments with dog heads were repeatedly conducted by Professor V.P. Demikhov. At the same time, he was convinced that it is quite possible to support life in the human head.

Well, now about the most incredible thing: have similar experiments been carried out with the human head? This question is not easy and is associated with moral and deep social problems that surgeons will inevitably face when transplanting the head of one person to the body of another. Therefore, this kind of information is always under the cloak of secrecy.

And yet, in the mid-70s, a sensational message flashed through the press. Two German neurosurgeons, Wallner Kreiter and Henry Curidge, managed to keep an amputated human head alive for twenty days. A 40-year-old man who had just been injured in a car accident was brought to the clinic. His head was almost torn off from the body, there was no question of saving a person.

In this situation, neurosurgeons decided to try to keep life at least in the brain of the victim. A life support system was connected to the head, and for almost three weeks after that it kept the brain of a person whose body had long been dead in an active state. Moreover, the doctors made contact with the head. True, she could not speak, she did not have a throat, however, by the movement of her lips, scientists "read" a lot of words, from which it clearly followed that she understood what was happening to her.

Finally, Philadelphia physician Truman Doughty did the seemingly impossible. In 1989, his wife Brenda was diagnosed with cancer. The terrible news prompted Truman to develop a life support device. The disease progressed rapidly, and the doctor lost hope of saving the dying. And then he made an attempt to save his head.

The entire operation took about six hours. Doughty knew full well that he could go to jail on a murder charge. The doctor risked, but, as it turned out, risked not in vain. The fantastic experiment ended in triumph. By the way, Brenda did not doubt for a minute that the operation was necessary and agreed to it. For several years, Truman hid that his wife's head was alive and well. Only recently the world learned about an incredible event. According to Doughty, Brenda is able to speak with the help of a special device.

It is difficult to believe in all this, but one thing is clear: the scientific ideas of Alexander Belyaev have become a reality.

Alexander Potapov, "Continent"

Fantastic experiment Philadelphia doctor Truman Doughty ended in triumph. His wife Brenda died many years ago, but her head is still "alive and well". According to Doughty, Brenda is able to speak with the help of a special device.

And now remember A. Belyaev's novel "Professor Dowell's Head". Scientist Dowell created a solution with which the human head can lead a relatively full life. He is convinced that his discovery will benefit people, but can it really be?

In 1902, the famous Russian physiologist A.A. Kulyabko, after reviving the heart of a child (taken out of a corpse, it acted outside the body for several hours), tried to revive the head.

At first it was the head of a fish. Through the blood vessels, a special liquid was brought to the head - a blood substitute. The result was incredible: the head moved its eyes and fins, opened and closed its mouth - all this eloquently testified that it was alive!

In 1928, physiologists S.S. Bryukhonenko and S.I. Chechulin demonstrated the live head of a warm-blooded animal - a dog. Connected to a heart-lung machine, she was quite active.

When a tampon moistened with acid was placed on the tongue of a dog's head, she made an attempt to throw out the irritant; if a piece of sausage was placed in her mouth, the head licked. When directing a jet of air into the eyes, they blinked.

In 1959, Professor V.P. Demikhov repeatedly conducted successful experiments with dog heads. At the same time, he was convinced that it is quite possible to support life in the human head.

Well, now about the most incredible thing: have similar experiments been carried out with the human head? This question is not easy and is associated with moral and deep social problems that surgeons will inevitably face when transplanting the head of one person to the body of another. Therefore, this kind of information is always under the cloak of secrecy.

And yet, in the mid-70s of the XX century, a sensational message flashed in the press. Two German neurosurgeons, Wallner Kreiter and Henry Curidge, managed to keep an amputated human head alive for twenty days. A 40-year-old man who had just been injured in a car accident was brought to the clinic. His head was almost torn off from the body, there was no question of saving a person.

In this situation, neurosurgeons decided to try to keep life at least in the brain of the victim. A life support system was connected to the head, and for almost three weeks after that it kept the brain of a person whose body had long been dead in an active state. Moreover, the doctors made contact with the head. True, she could not speak, she did not have a throat, however, by the movement of her lips, scientists "read" a lot of words, from which it clearly followed that she understood what was happening to her.

Finally, Philadelphia physician Truman Doughty did the seemingly impossible. His wife Brenda was diagnosed with cancer. The terrible news prompted Truman to develop a life support device. The disease progressed rapidly, and the doctor lost hope of saving the dying. And then he made an attempt to save his head.

The entire operation took about six hours. Doughty knew full well that he could go to jail on a murder charge. The doctor risked, but, as it turned out, risked not in vain. The fantastic experiment ended in triumph. By the way, Brenda did not doubt for a minute that the operation was necessary and agreed to it. For several years, Truman hid that his wife's head was alive and well. Only recently the world learned about an incredible event. According to Doughty, Brenda is able to speak with the help of a special device.

It is difficult to believe in all this, but one thing is clear: the scientific ideas of Alexander Belyaev have become a reality.

At the end of 2017, the world's first head transplant should take place. Surgeon Sergio Canavero is going to transplant the head of Russian programmer Valery Spiridonov, who suffers from Werdnig-Hoffmann amyotrophy, onto a donor body. Meanwhile, a second contender for a transplant has already appeared - 62-year-old Chinese Wang Huanmin.

The last chance

Our compatriot Valery Spiridonov has been suffering from an incurable disease since childhood. His limbs practically do not work, the man is not able to do without outside help ... He hopes that the operation will save him from disability and make him a full-fledged person. In fact, he has nothing to lose, he says. Better perishing death, than such a life … And all-??? this chance.

Wang Huanmin, 62, recently announced his desire to be next. He previously worked for a gas company. Six years ago, an accident left Huanming completely paralyzed. The man hopes that they will be able to help him at the Harbin Medical University, where the transplant surgeon Ren Xiaoping, who previously worked with Canavero, works. In 1999, he performed the world's first hand transplant in the United States.

Followers of Professor Dowell

The most famous head transplant story is Alexander Belyaev's sci-fi novel "Professor Dowell's Head". In this work, life in a severed head is maintained with the help of a special solution. However, heads are also sewn to the bodies ...

In 1902, the Russian physiologist A. A. Kulyabko conducted an experiment with the head of a fish. A special fluid, a blood substitute, was delivered to the brain through the blood vessels. As a result, the head could move its eyes and fins, open and close its mouth.

In 1928, physiologists S. S. Bryukhonenko and S. I. Chechulin connected the severed head of a dog to a heart-lung machine and also achieved a certain activity ... In particular, if a tampon moistened with acid was placed on the dog’s tongue, the head would try to get rid of it, if in a piece of sausage was placed in the mouth - it licked itself ... If a jet was directed into the eyes of the dog, the head began to blink ...

In 1959, Professor V.P. Demikhov conducted a series of successful experiments with dog heads. By the way, he argued that it is possible to maintain life in the human head in the same way ...

In the mid-1970s, there were reports in the media that German neurosurgeons Wallner Kreiter and Henry Kurij maintained life in an amputated human head for 20 days. The latter belonged to a forty-year-old man who had been in a car accident. When he was brought to the clinic, his head was almost torn off from his body. It was still not possible to save the patient's life, and the doctors decided to take a chance ... They connected a life support system to the victim's head, which kept his brain active for three weeks. Scientists claimed that they even managed to establish contact with the head. Although she could not fully speak, since she did not have vocal cords, she moved her lips ... From "reading lips" it followed that a person deprived of a body was aware of what was happening ...

Another sensational operation was allegedly performed in 1989 by Philadelphia doctor Truman Doughty. His wife Brenda was dying of cancer, and in desperation, Doughty decided to try to save at least her head. Brenda agreed to the operation, which lasted about six hours. The head lived for several years! A special device even allowed her to speak...

However, since the last two cases are known only from the yellow press, their reliability cannot be confirmed.

It is known that surgeons experimented on corpses, but these are not living people! Laboratory mice after transplantation lived for about a day.