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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 7, 2002)
4B Thursday, March 7, 2002 THE BA’ Doctors transplant human uter Experience the Enchantment — Live On Ice! Final 4 Days! i Thu. MAR. 7 Fri. MAR. 8 Sat. Sun. MAR. 10 MAR. 9 11 30 AMf 3:30 PM 1 00 PMf 7:30 PMf 7 30 PM 7:30 PM tKIDS UNDER 12 SAVE S2.50 ON TICKETS'' (Excluding VIP Seats No double discounts ) Buy tickets at www.DisneyOnIce.com Ticket Centers including Foley’s, Arena Box Office or call (979) 268-0414 For Information call (979) 362-RF.F.D TICKET PRICES: $10.00 - $15.00 - $25.00 VIP LONDON (AP) — Doctors in Saudi Arabia have performed the first human uterus transplant, which produced two menstrual periods before it failed and had to be removed. The experiment indicated a womb trans plant is technically achievable, but experts say it is highly risky and ethically questionable. Some say it will not be practical until less toxic anti-rejection drugs become available. The idea of uterus transplants was first explored in the 1950s. But after 20 years of failed experiments on dogs and baboons, many scientists considered it impossible because of the complex blood vessels that must be connected and because of fears that anti-rejection drugs could harm a fetus. Dr. Wafa Fageeh, a professor at Abdulaziz University who performed the transplant with her team at King Fahad Hospital and Research Center in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, called the operation “a good start.” “It is technically feasible, theoretically desirable, but presently unsafe,” said Roger Gosden, a fertility pioneer at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Va. “Their results reveal the risks and this procedure awaits the development of safe immunosuppression. “A transplant to save life is an acceptable risk, but not one for fertility, when there are alternatives " he said. “This is why we would never be given ethical clearance to try this in the United States” for the foreseeable future. The operation, reported this week in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, failed because a blood vessel a They took a concept that everyone thought was undoable and they did it. Dr. Louis Keith obstetrician the uterus to survive 99 daysajvj a uterus is supposed to tuncfe j to menstruate,” said Keith, y j editor of the journal that publisi The transplant, using the\ year-old post-menopausal wo to have a hysterectomy, [ April 6, 2(X)0, on a 26-yeJ woman w ho had lost her uter. excessive bleeding after childrl The recipient was given -i pills, but nine days after the 1 body rejected the womb. Hou : | were able to control it withdrj Hormone treatment wasgivj the womb’s lining and it grt.l limeters thick, indicating tkj were getting through andthai:| w as good, the researchers rep | Menstrual periods happen 5 supplying the uterus developed a clot, which cut off the blood supply. “You have to give them credit. They took a concept that everybody thought was undoable and they did it," said Dr. Louis Keith, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago who was not involved in the research. “It brought enough blood to the uterus for mg of reaches a fertili ha: he womb, prompted b a certain thickness tot; zed egg but sheds bea . not occurred, hormone treatment s. then stopped fora, estarted. ■ had two menstrual peno • hormones each time." F ■ The Fac Rviewed tf Hie preser ■ass to re | ■niversity t grade forgi and reveive ■ Q-drops. were shou ei t policies and should ■ The Facu Hb retake a Hilly been idministrat NEWS IN BRIEF George Washington letter found in N.Y. ORANGE, Va. (AP) — A letter written by George Washington in 1788 and stolen from a home in Virginia has been found in New York City. The letter, valued at $500,000, had been sold to a collector in New York for far less than its value, authorities said Tuesday. It was to be retrieved Thursday by Orange County sheriff's officials. Thomas Paytes, 35, of Orange County, was charged with grand larceny in the Feb. 25 theft. Paytes worked fc” of the letter and had access to his home, the sbe^' ment said. He was arrested in Washington duringth Orange County Sheriff C.G. Feldman would not : letter's owner. The letter was written to Washington's person Tobias Lear, nine months before Washington became In it, Washington discusses Virginia's ratification of Constitution, which had taken place three days earlier: an agreemc I This is no are limits tc opportunity the effort f( understand ticular blerr : one factor ii s mistakes ir H Administi Tupport for a good indii Senate is in |^hy can’t 1 Perhaps the altogether. Likewise, it matter. Fron Q-drops and Perhaps it is So TH tManag/t/g Erl, Tier LL ThiMtt TO(J TOO Opinion Edi News Edt Netvs Edi I The Battalior and include the Bserves the righ | ted in person at Bailed to: 014 R OUT MOTteS STUDLNT 77 8 43-1 1 11. Fax: mm/** Check out the latest looks from the hottest names, alll much less than you’d find at the mall. We’ve got swimsii Aggies ne tanks, shorts, capris, and much more. some resj TJ*mCD9r you should go® Visit us at www.tjmaxx.com . USE YOUR TJX VISA^CARD when you shop with us and earn 5% rewards. Visit any store or call 1-877-588-8TJX to apply for your card today. STORE NEAREST CAMPUS: In College Station at Post Oak Square Shopping Center, Hwy. 30 (Harvey Rd.) and Hwy. <5 Bypass.