The world’s only recipient of two full arms in a landmark transplant operation said he expected to be able to toast the success of the procedure with a good Bavarian beer soon.
Karl Merk, a dairy farmer from the southern German city of Munich who lost both arms in a work accident, showed off his new-found mobility, waving his arms around and scratching his head for the cameras a year after his operation.
Asked if he was able to drink a glass of beer in typical Bavarian fashion, Merk said: “Well, yeah, at the moment I’m drinking from a straw otherwise it would be a bit dangerous but it should happen soon.”
However, he said his life was “basically back to normal” after the 15-hour surgery carried out by around 40 doctors, surgeons and nurses on July 25 and 26 last year.
“My biggest dream is to be able to move my fingers a bit and basically do everything independently for myself,” Merk added.
Nevertheless, Merk said he was able to enjoy simple pleasures again.
“It’s going really well. I often go with my wife to walk the dog,” he said.
He demonstrated some of the grueling rehabilitation exercises he must perform daily to regain strength, crossing his arms several times for the cameras.
The transplant, carried out at the teaching hospital of the Technical University in Munich, was a pioneering operation and the only one ever performed.
The five teams working in two operating theaters gathered at 10:00pm the night of the operation, one on each side of the patient and the donor, who had died only hours before. A fifth group removed a leg vein from the donor.
(AFP)
全球唯一一位成功移植完整雙臂的男子表示，他希望不久後就能高舉好喝的巴伐利亞啤酒，慶祝這項劃時代手術的成功。
德國南部慕尼黑市的酪農卡爾．梅爾克在一場工作意外中喪失雙臂，手術完成一年後，他在攝影鏡頭前展示重建的行動力，他揮動雙臂，搔了搔頭。
被問及他能否用典型的巴伐利亞方式喝杯啤酒，梅爾克說：「唔，沒錯，現在我還是用吸管喝飲料，否則會有點危險，不過應該不久後就能這麼做了。」
不過，他說手術後他的生活「基本上已回歸正常」了。 去年七月二十五、二十六日，約四十位醫生、外科醫生和護理人員花了十五個小時進行這項移植手術。
梅爾克還說：「我最大的夢想是能稍微動動手指，而且起碼可以靠自己獨立完成所有事。」
然而，梅爾克說他又能重新享受單純的滿足了。
他說：「一切都很好，我常和我太太一起去遛狗。」
他示範了一些累人卻每天都得進行的肌力復健運動，還在鏡頭前數次交叉手臂供記者拍照。
這項史無前例的雙臂移植先驅手術，是由慕尼黑科技大學教學醫院操刀。
手術當天晚上十點，五組醫療人員在兩間手術室集合，他們分別在梅爾克和那位才過世幾小時的捐贈者身邊待命。第五組人馬則負責取下捐贈者一條腿上的靜脈。
（法新社╱翻譯：袁星塵）
South Korea’s famous kimchi is falling victim to climate change, with scientists, farmers and manufacturers saying the quality and quantity of the napa cabbage that is pickled to make the ubiquitous dish is suffering due to rising temperatures. Napa cabbage thrives in cooler climates, and is usually planted in mountainous regions where temperatures during the key growing summer season once rarely rose above 25 degrees Celsius. Studies show that warmer weather brought about by climate change is now threatening these crops, so much so that South Korea might not be able to grow napa cabbage one day due to the intensifying heat. “We
It’s widely recognized that there are far more right-handed people than left-handed people in the world. Being right-handed simply means preferring to use one’s right hand for tasks that involve only one hand, such as writing and eating. But have you ever wondered about the possible reasons behind the global dominance of the right hand over the left? As with many complex biological questions, multiple factors appear to be at play. First, one reason seems to be genetics. __1__ Therefore, the global dominance of right-handedness is something that has been passed down through many generations of humans. Next,
A: What’s even more horrible is that the five suspects who purposely supplied ketamine to actor Matthew Perry were all his “friends.” B: Who exactly are the five suspects? A: They include Matthew’s two doctors, a broker, a drug dealer, and even his live-in assistant. B: Those scumbags should go to jail. A: Yeah, one of the doctors may be sentenced to up to 120 years in prison. A: 更可怕的是，提供男星馬修派瑞「K他命」的5人全是他的「朋友」。 B: 嫌犯是誰啊？ A: 其中包括他的2位醫生、1位仲介、1位毒販、甚至他的同居助理！ B: 那些人渣真該去坐牢。 A: 對啊，其中1位醫生可能面臨120年徒刑。 （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
Continued from yesterday（延續自昨日） https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang Finally, cultural influence also plays a role in which hand people prefer. Historically, items that require physical manipulation have been designed for right-handed use. For example, tools like scissors and musical instruments are often constructed with right-handers in mind, making it difficult for left-handers to use them. __4__ While these factors offer some explanation, they remain speculative. The precise reasons for the global prevalence of right-handed people continue to be debated. Nevertheless, left-handedness will remain a phenomenon of great curiosity among scientists and researchers for many years to come. 最後，文化影響也在人們偏好哪一隻手上扮演一角。歷史上，需要用到肢體操作的物品都被設計來供右手使用。舉例來說，像是剪刀、樂器等工具常常就是考慮到右撇子而打造的，造成左撇子難以使用這些工具。因此，許多天生就是左撇子的人可能就必須透過學習使用右手來適應。 雖然這些因素都提供了一些解釋，但它們仍是推測而已。全球右撇子如此普及，確切的原因仍持續被爭論著。不過，在未來的許多年裡，左撇子依然會是科學家和研究人員相當好奇的一個現象。 What Did You Learn? (A) Specifically, different areas of
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