Bananas with dark patches on yellow skin

The fully ripe banana produces a substance called TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor) which has  the ability to combat abnormal cells. So don't be surprised very soon the shop will go out of stock for bananas. As the banana ripens, it develops dark spots or patches on the skin. The more dark patches it has, the higher will be its' immunity enhancement quality . Hence the Japanese love bananas for a good reason.

According to a Japanese scientific research, banana contains TNF which has anti-cancer properties. The degree of anti-cancer effect corresponds to the degree of ripeness of the fruit, i.e. the riper the banana, the better the anti-cancer quality..

In an animal experiment carried out by a professor in Tokyo University comparing the various health benefits of different fruits, using banana, grape, apple, water melon, pineapple, pear and persimmon, it was found that banana gave the best results. It increased the number of white blood cells, enhanced the immunity of the body and produced anti-cancer substance TNF.

The recommendation is to eat 1 to 2 banana a day to increase your body immunity to diseases like cold, flu and others. According to the Japanese professor, yellow skin bananas with dark spots

on it are 8 times more effective in enhancing the property of white blood cells than the green skin version.

Mosquito trap (Dengue prevention)

 It is just a mix of water, brown sugar and yeast.      

1. Cut a plastic bottle in half, keep both parts. Can be Coca Cola / Pepsi bottle.
2. Take the lower portion of the bottle. Dissolve the brown sugar in hot water. Let it cool down to ~70 deg F.
3. Add the yeast. Carbon dioxide will form (This will attract the mosquitoes)
4. Cover the bottle with a dark wrap and place the top portion upside down like a funnel. Place it in a corner in your house.
5. In 2 weeks you will be surprised by the number of mosquitoes killed. Check this link and this other link. 

His seems like a simple and practical way to trap all types of mosquito.We can also do this at the field sites for flood victims medical camps etc. It may also trap flies.

Dengue Fever, Symptoms , Causes and Prevention

Dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) are acute febrile diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, which occur in the tropics, can be life-threatening, and are caused by four closely related virus serotypes of the genus Flavivirus, family Flaviviridae. It is also known as breakbone fever, since it can be extremely painful. Unlike malaria, dengue is just as prevalent in the urban districts of its range as in rural areas. Each serotype is sufficiently different that there is no cross-protection and epidemics caused by multiple serotypes (hyperendemicity) can occur. Dengue is transmitted to humans by the Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti or more rarely the Aedes albopictus mosquito. The mosquitoes that spread dengue usually bite at dusk and dawn but may bite at any time during the day, especially indoors, in shady areas, or when the weather is cloudy.

The WHO says some 2.5 billion people, two fifths of the world's population, are now at risk from dengue and estimates that there may be 50 million cases of dengue infection worldwide every year. The disease is now endemic in more than 100 countries. (wikipedia)

Dengue fever is a disease caused by a family of viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes. It is an acute illness of sudden onset that usually follows a benign course with symptoms such as headache, fever, exhaustion, severe muscle and joint pain, swollen glands (lymphadenopathy), and rash. The presence (the "dengue triad") of fever, rash, and headache (and other pains) is particularly characteristic of dengue. Other signs of dengue fever include bleeding gums, severe pain behind the eyes, and red palms and soles.

Symptoms

• Dengue starts with chills
• Headache
• Pain upon moving the eyes
• Low backache
• Painful aching in the legs and joints occurs during the first hours of illness.
• The temperature rises quickly as high as 104 F (40 C), with relative low heart rate (bradycardia) and low blood pressure (hypotension).
• The eyes become reddened.
• A flushing or pale pink rash comes over the face and then disappears. The glands (lymph nodes) in the neck and groin are often swollen.
• Fever and other signs of dengue last for two to four days, followed by a rapid drop in body temperature (defervescence) with profuse sweating. This precedes a period with normal temperature and a sense of well-being that lasts about a day. A second rapid rise in temperature follows.
• A characteristic rash appears along with the fever and spreads from the extremities to cover the entire body except the face.
• The palms and soles may be bright red and swollen. (medicinenet)

Prevention

• Empty stagnant water from old tires, trash cans, and flower pots.
• Governmental initiatives to decrease mosquitoes also help to keep the disease in check but have been poorly effective.
• To prevent mosquito bites, wear long pants and long sleeves.
• For personal protection, use mosquito repellant sprays that contain DEET when visiting places where dengue is endemic.
• Limiting exposure to mosquitoes by avoiding standing water and staying indoors two hours after sunrise and before sunset will help.  (medicinenet)

Various Treatments Found over Internet

• “While most patients recover with supportive care, there is no specific treatment for dengue fever,” says Dr Salahuddin.
• Grind 100 gm red Apples in 1qtr hot milk ... use it twice a day

 

(Click Image to enlarge & See)

Vomiting and Its Remedies

Vomiting

Vomiting is a forceful expulsion of the stomach contents due to the contraction of stomach muscles. Vomiting is also known as emesis. Sometimes you may attempt to vomit but may not expel anything from your mouth. This is known as retching. Vomiting may or may not be accompanied by nausea.

Vomiting Symptoms

Some of the symptoms of vomiting are as follows:-

• Increased saliva, Dizziness, Lightheadedness,
• Difficulty in swallowing food or liquid,
• Changes in skin temperature,
• Increase in heart beat rate.

Vomiting Causes

Some of the causes of vomiting are as follows Overeating,

• Drinking excessive alcohol,
• Pregnancy
• Migraine
• Infections
• Flu, Stomach upset, Stomach virus, Food poisoning
• Accidental poisoning, Acute gastritis, Reflux
• Intestinal obstructions, Chronic digestive conditions, Peptic ulcers, Stomach cancer
• Intestinal obstruction, Kidney failure, Cholera.

Home Remedies for Vomiting

Some of the effective home remedies for vomiting are as follows.

• Have a cup of ginger tea
• Eat a mixture of honey and powder of 2 roasted cardamoms
• Have a glass of chilled lime juice
• Have a mixture of 1 tsp mint juice
• 1/2 tsp ginger juice and 1 tsp honey
• Slowly sip a glass of honey water
• Have one tsp onion juice in regular interval
• Slowly sip a glass of chilled cola
• Relax for some time.

Diet for the first twelve hours

For the first twelve hours after vomiting do not take any solid food. Limit yourself only to liquids like apple juice, carbonated juices, water and so on. Avoid citrus juices and dairy products for the first 24 hours.

Diet for the next twelve hours
During the next twelve hours gradually start eating banana, peeled apple, boiled potatoes, boiled rice and soup without cream.

Diet after 24 hours
After 24 hours you can have cottage cheese, non-fat milk, broiled chicken, lean meat and so on.


Other Suggestions for Vomiting

Once vomiting stops, do not rush to normal diet immediately. If vomiting continues then it is advisable to see a doctor as soon as possible.

Caroline Cartwright To Face Jail Time For Loud Sex

A British woman who made her neighbors' lives hell with noisy sex sessions with her husband has avoided jail again.

Caroline Cartwright, 49, was in court again for breaching an anti-social behaviour order (Asbo) banning her from "shouting, screaming or vocalization" during romps with her husband Steve. Their love-making has been described as "murder" and "unnatural" and drowned out their neighbours' televisions.

Cartwright claims she is unable to stop the loud shouting and screaming during sex and says the Asbo is a breach of her human rights. "I did not understand why people asked me to be quiet because to me it is normal. I didn't understand where they were coming from," she explained at a previous court appearance.

"I have tried to minimise the situation by having sex in the morning - not at night - so the noise was not waking anybody. "I may be sympathetic to it, but it is not something I am doing on purpose."

On Tuesday at Newcastle Crown Court Cartwright admitted two charges of breaching the Asbo at her home in Hall Road. The court heard that her neighbour Rachel O'Connor called the police after hearing Cartwright shouting and screaming for 10 minutes during love-making on the morning of March 14 this year.

The next day O'Connor's partner Vince Wilson also called police after the defendant could be heard singing at the top of her voice to dance music blasting out from her terraced house. Police officers, who attended the neighbours' flat, heard 20 minutes of loud music and singing before arresting Cartwright, the court heard.

The saga of Cartwright's love-making has been a long-running drama, which has seen her jailed and forced to live in a bail hostel away from her husband. Two years ago after neighbours, the local postman and a woman taking her child to school complained about the noise, she was hit with a noise abatement notice.

On Tuesday prosecutor Penny Moreland explained that when Cartwright breached the notice five times she was made subject of an anti-social behaviour order in April last year. In January this year she received an eight-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, after admitting three charges of breaching the Asbo, Moreland said.

Christopher Rose, defending, said Cartwright had caused herself great hardship because of her behaviour. Recorder Jeremy Freedman told Cartwright that only her guilty pleas on Tuesday had saved her from the eight-week suspended prison term that was hanging over her.
 

He imposed a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and a one-year supervision order."

Treat Your Kidneys in Less Than $1.00

Years pass by and our kidneys are filtering the blood by removing salt, poison and any unwanted entering our body. With time, the salt accumulates and this needs to undergo cleaning treatments and how are we going to overcome this?

It is very easy:

• First take a bunch of parsley (MALLI Leaves) and wash it clean.
• Then cut it in small pieces and put it in a pot.
• Pour clean water and boil it for ten minutes and let it cool down.
• Filter it and pour in a clean bottle.
• Keep it inside refrigerator to cool.
• Drink one glass daily and you will notice all salt and other accumulated poison coming out of your kidney by urination also you will be able to notice the difference which you never felt before.

Parsley is known as best cleaning treatment for kidneys and it is natural!

Usinging Ginger: Islamic and Medical Point of Views

"And they shall be made to drink therein a cup the admixture of which shall be ginger."
(Quran 76:17)

Ginger has been used for its health benefits for over 5000 years and is a favorite medicinal as well as culinary herb.

Unlike most spices, the part that has the most medicinal value grows under ground. Often mistakenly called “ginger root” this is actually the rhizome of the plant which is more of a subterranean stem than a root. Although you can use dried ginger and powdered ginger for health benefits, fresh ginger is preferred.

The intake of ginger helps stimulate the secretion of mucus, quieting your cough and soothing any scratchiness in your throat.

Ginger has been proven (in multiple studies) to treat feelings of nausea, particularly in the form of seasickness, morning sickness, motion sickness and as a side effect of chemotherapy.

In pregnancy is to be extra careful!! Never use any herb, including ginger, without first discussing it with your doctor!! As for those suffering from ulcer, or other very serious gastric problems, they should also consult their doctor.

Ginger contains anti viral, anti toxic, and anti fungal properties, and is used for the prevention of and treatment against the common cold.

Ginger acts as an antihistamine and aids in the treatment of allergies.

Ginger displays anti inflammatory properties and can be used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and various other muscular disorders.

The chemical components of the root are instrumental in inhibiting the biosynthesis of prostaglandins which are responsible for causing inflammation.

Thus the root has proven to be a highly effective form of treatment, in some cases, even more so than the NSAID's that are traditionally prescribed.

So eating ginger may help to prevent cancer and aging disorders.

Good for those with constipation! 

The ancient Greeks used to eat ginger after a large meal,in order to ease the digestion process. 

Ginger has proven to help lower your cholesterol levels and prevent the formation of blood clots.

As a mood enhancer, ginger's cineole content may help contribute to stress relief.

Also used for migraine headache.

Ginger can also be used for reducing toothache and the discomfort which arises due to the infection in the upper respiratory tract due to its antibacterial and antifungal nature.

Chewing on fresh ginger, can help freshen the breath.

Being a warming herb, ginger can help knock out a fever. This property also makes it effective in stimulating circulation of the blood.

It can also help relax muscles around the blood vessels and is said to help prevent blood clots from forming. The warming effects make it a natural decongestant as well as an antihistamine, making it the perfect remedy for colds.

Some studies show that it can even help inhibit the replication of the herpes simplex virus.

Recent studies show that ginger might also have a role in lowering LDL cholesterol because the spice can help reduce the amount of cholesterol that is absorbed.

It has also been shown in animal trials to help slow or even prevent cancerous tumor growth.

To discover the health benefits of ginger for yourself, simply make a tea by steeping about 5 slices of ginger in hot water.

If you prefer it in your food

Ginger is excellent in many dishes and is perfect when combined with garlic.

Ginger doesn't only spice up your food it can also help to put some extra spice in your intimate life too. It improves blood flow to your sexual organs, and contains Vitamin C, zinc and magnesium.

Consequences of Gastric Bypass

Decreased Vit B12, Iron, and Ca uptake
• Permanent food intake restriction
• Lactose intolerance
• Dumping syndrome
• Psychological adjustments
• Need for plastic surgery
• Temporary hair thinning (Partial loss)
• Lifelong medical follow-up

Gastric Bypass Dumping Syndrome
• follows many types of stomach Surgeries
◦ When sugars rapidly hit small bowel
• variable incidence, intensity
• Sweating, weakness, rapid heart rate, nausea, hot flash, diarrhea
• Lasts 10-45 minutes
• Rx: time, diet, medication
• Good news: Helps you Avoid sugars!

Gastric Bypass Lactose Intolerance
• difficult digestion of milk products
• Indigestion, gas, diarrhea
• Hereditary
• Gastric bypass can "unmask", but not cause it
• Rx: diet, enzyme replacement

Benefits of Having Sex

I’ve recently collected another daunting pile of questions regarding the health benefits of sex. Through the years of my career, and I imagine through the ages of all humanity, this has been a resurfacing question. Typically I answer questions pertaining to the health benefits of sex on a one-on-one basis, but since I know that there are many more men out there who are asking themselves the same question I thought it admissible to address the topic here.

Many people simply enjoy a healthy sex life because sex is pleasurable. Now there’s another reason to stay under the sheets; there are substantial health benefits of sex.

Enjoying a rigorous romp can do wonders for everyone both physically and psychologically. Now, men everywhere can tell their ladies that sex is not only for fun, but, since there are health benefits of sex, their lives may depend on it.

The following are six different reasons why sex and sexual activity may help you live a longer, happier life due to the health benefits of sex:

sex can cure headaches

All those times that you were told, “Not tonight honey, I have a headache,” all you had to do was inform your woman that one of the health benefits of sex is its ability to act as a pain reliever. The hormone oxytocin (a nine amino acid peptide that is synthesized in hypothalamic neurons and transported down axons of the posterior pituitary for secretion into blood) secretes within your body whenever you engage in sexual activity.

Because of this secretion, endorphins (hormone-like chemicals that bear a close functional resemblance to morphine) are released.

When a person is aroused or excited, oxytocin levels not only begin to increase, they are the reason that orgasms come about. Studies have shown that a rise in oxytocin levels can relieve pain; everything from headaches, cramps and overall body aches can be diminished with a simple roll in the hay.

reduce stress, sleep well

A recent survey revealed that people who have more sex reported that they felt more at ease, happier and learned how to handle stress better. So perhaps the term “sexual frustration” is not too far from the truth.

After an orgasm, an intense wave of calm and relaxation overcomes humans (that’s why men usually fall asleep) and it’s a time when people can truly liberate themselves and let go. Plenty of people who enjoy a regular dose of sex convey that they sleep much better during the night and feel alive and refreshed throughout the day. So, one of the health benefits of sex is a better nights sleep, which allows you to handle day-to-day stress much more efficiently

increase blood flow

It goes without saying that when we get aroused our blood starts to pump at a quicker rate and, thus, blood flow to our brain increases. Both an increased heart rate and more blood pumping through the brain result in better performance (in and out of the bedroom).

What this ultimately means is that the fresh supply of blood pumping through your body provides the organs with a healthy dose of oxygen and rids the body of old and wasteful products. So, another health benefit of sex is a cleansed system. Treat your temple right with the help of a little excitement.

The health benefits of sex will give you more hormones and keep you younger.

body maintenance

One of the health benefits of sex is that it helps to keep you fit and it can keep you in constant awareness of your body image. Everyone likes to know that they have a nice physique and continually being nak-ed in front of another person can be somewhat of a good incentive to stay in shape.

Believe it or not, sexual intercourse burns off 150 calories every half hour. Although the average couple engages in sex for approximately 25 minutes a session only three times a week, it still accounts for 450 calories that are better taken off than put on.

If you’re more active than average, then that will only make things more beneficial for you and that lucky gal. A health benefit of sex, particularly a rigorous hour of sex, is that it may burn even more than 300 calories depending on how rigorous you get.

fountain of youth

Although the orgasm is sometimes referred to as the “little death,” having at least two orgasms a week can increase your life span. Every time you reach orgasm, the hormone DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone) increases in response to sexual excitement and ejaculation.

DHEA can boost your immune system, repair tissue, improve cognition, keep skin healthy, and even work as an antidepressant. Therefore, a health benefit of sex if you keep the orgasms coming, is potentially a longer life.

more hormones are good

Both testosterone and estrogen levels experience a boost through regular sexual activity. Testosterone does more than just boost your sex drive, it helps fortify bones and muscles, and it keeps your heart in good working condition as well.

In women, sex increases the levels of estrogen, which protects against heart disease. Ever wonder why women love the touchy, feely stuff so much? It’s because of their rise in estrogen levels. This hormone also plays a huge role in a woman’s body scent. While estrogen makes women sentimental, a rise in their testosterone levels is what makes them desire penetration.

Men also produce estrogen and as they age, their estrogen levels increase while their testosterone levels drop. This reversal often results in men becoming somewhat calmer as they get on in years.

health benefits of sex galore

It’s quite evident that there are many health benefits of sex. It increases brain power, heart rate, it can help fend off diseases and ailments, and it makes individuals feel good about themselves.

In today’s stressful society, it has become a little more difficult to engage in intimate sexuality as often, but as long as you incessantly make the effort, you’ll realize that it’s always worth it.

The health benefits of sex will make you feel wonderful within and without and you will gradually notice that the more sex you have, the more bounce you will have in each step. Happiness isn’t sex itself, but sex does ultimately play a role in human happiness.

Benefits of Breast Feeding

Breastfeed your baby stay healthy and his immune from the disease later.

Breastfeeding develop a long-term bond between you and your child. You have to take a little care nursing baby. The best way to feed your baby for you to sit down and have a baby curled up in your lap. It is not advisable to lie in bed and just leave your kids to not smoke when you go to bed. Chances are that your child develops a sore throat in May. Always after eating baby gently patted on the shoulder making your child to digest milk.

Enter the newborn skin, the skin immediately after birth. Your baby has the ability to instantly recognize your voice, your smell and your heart. Cover with a blanket to keep warm and heat your body will keep your child warm. Your baby will feel comfortable when you hold the child close, the baby will feel safe enough to find its way into the breast. You need their part to help the baby sometimes your breasts. Hopefully kids just suck without eating, you do not put off in May will feed back after taking a breath. Adopted children in the first hour of his birth, but every baby is different and some May require more or less time, especially if the birth is a difficult time for him.

Benefits for the child 

1 Superior nutrition
• 2 greater immune health
• 3 higher intelligence
• 4 Lack of 4 urinary tract, diarrhea and middle ear
• 5 or less tendency to develop allergic diseases
• 6 more easily aroused from sleep
• 7 other long-term health effect

Benefits for mothers

• 1 long-term health effect
• 2 Bonding
• Hormone Release 3
• Weight Loss 4
• natural childbirth infertility 5

10 Most Fascinating Medical Miracles

1. Window washer in coma after falling 47 Stories woke up on Christmas day 

Alcides Moreno, 37, fell 47 stories from a New York skyscraper when a freak accident sent his window-washing platform plunging to the concrete pavement. The accident killed his brother, who was working on the same scaffolding platform, and left Moreno is such a bad state that doctors couldn't risk moving him to an operating room. Instead, they operated on him in the emergency room, leaving him in a vegetative state for nearly three weeks. Finally, he showed signs of consciousness and spoke -- on Christmas day. Less than a month later, he was discharged with the expectation that he would walk again within a year's time. Considering that the death rate from even a four-story fall is about 50%, Moreno's survival, thanks in part to some fortunate circumstances, is astounding.

2. Teenage model had her body held together by 11 rods
Katrina Burgess, 17, was told by doctors she may never walk again after surviving a 70mph car crash with a broken neck and back, and a catalogue of other injuries. But after being put back together with 11 metal rods and enough pins and screws to send an airport security detector into overdrive, Katrina was signed up by a modeling agency.

Surgeons saved her life after her car left the M5 and crashed into a ditch as she travelled towards her home town of Weymouth, Dorset. She snapped her back, punctured both lungs and broke her neck, her pelvis, her left leg and several ribs. Surgeons at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, Somerset, said that without surgery to help the bones to fuse, her spinal injuries in particular could deteriorate, risking death.

Doctors inserted a rod from her hip to her knee in her left leg the day after she was admitted to hospital. It was secured inside with four titanium pins. The most risky operation came a week later. They sliced open her back and inserted six more horizontal rods up the length of her back to support her spine. A week after that, they inserted a titanium screw to the top of her spine to support the break in her fragile neck. Only day after the last operation she was able to take her first steps.

Astonishingly, five months on from the crash, the teenager has recovered to the point where she no longer even needs painkillers.

3. Teen lived 118 days without heart
It was supposed to be a great day for 14-year-old D'Zhana Simmons, who received a transplant to replace her enlarged heart. However, her dream turned into a nightmare when the new heart failed to function properly. Doctors had to remove the new organ, but without another heart available and with D'Zhana weakened from the surgery, they had to come up with a stopgap measure: two artificial pumps that kept the blood flowing in her body for close to four months. The feat was newsworthy partially because of D'Zhana's age and partially because when an artificial heart is used to sustain a patient, the patient's own heart is usually left in the body. Finally, on October 29, D'Zhana received another heart transplant, and it was so successful that she had a kidney transplant the very next day.

4. Blind man got his sight back after having a tooth implanted into his eye

Martin Jones a 42-year-old builder was left blind after an accident at work more than a decade ago. But a remarkable operation - which implants part of his tooth in his eye - has pierced his world of darkness. The procedure, performed fewer than 50 times before in Britain, uses the segment of tooth as a holder for a new lens grafted from his skin.

He lost his sight after a tub of white hot aluminium exploded in his face at work in a scrapyard. He suffered 37 per cent burns and had to wear a special body stocking for 23 hours a day. He also had his left eye removed. But surgeons were able to save the right eye, even though he was unable to see through it. At first specialists in Nottingham tried to save his sight using stem cells from a donor but the attempt failed.

It was only when a revolutionary new operation was pioneered at the Sussex Eye Clinic in Brighton that he was given a chance to have his sight back. During the procedure, a minute section of a patient's tooth is removed, reshaped and chiselled through to grip the man-made lens which is then placed in its core. It is implanted under an eyelid where it becomes covered in tissue.

The process requires a living tooth as an implant because doctors suggest there are chances the eye would reject a plastic equivalent. So a canine - which is the best option due to its shape and size - was taken out of Mr Jones' mouth. A patch of skin is then taken from the inside of the cheek and placed in the eye for two months, where it gradually acquires its own blood supply. The tooth segment is finally transplanted into the eye socket. The flap of grafted skin is then partially lifted from the eye and placed over its new sturdy base.

Mr Jones, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, was able to see for the first time his wife Gill, 50, whom he had married four years ago.

5. Mother who had to chose to save one twin got to keep both after disconnecting blood vessels

Shannon and Mike Gimbel faced an agonizing choice. Doctors told them one of the twin girls they were expecting needed to be terminated or both would die. Doctors at Swedish Medical Center had diagnosed Gimbel's twins with Twin-To-Twin Syndrome, or TTTS. It is a condition in which the twins are connected by blood vessels. One twin literally drains the life out of the other. Left untreated, there is an 80 to 90 percent chance that one or both will die.

Shannon and Mike were struggling with the suggestion to terminate the weaker baby when their physician at Swedish, Dr. Kent Heyborne, approached them with another option. He'd made contact with Drs. Robert Bell and Michael Belfort of St. Mark's Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Utah surgeons teamed with those at Swedish to perform laser surgery in the womb to cauterize the blood vessels that were connecting, and slowly killing, the twins.

Shannon says she remembers holding her breath as a nurse used an ultrasound to listen for heartbeats after the surgery. One, then another. Both girls had made it. Reese and McKenna Gimbel were born at Swedish two months later.

6. Boy recovered after orthopedic decapitation
Jordan Taylor was in a car accident that separated his skull from his vertebrae. There was no connection between the bones of the neck and the head. Doctors call the injury an "orthopedic decapitation" and at the time gave Jordan a one percent chance for survival.

The tissue may have been destroyed, but the faith of Jordan's family was intact. Word about what happened to Jordan spread to the family's church and others churches across the country. Jordan's mother says at one time she knew of at least 20 churches that were praying for her son.

Dr. Roberts reconnected Jordan's head to his neck with a metal plate, screws and titanium rods. 3 months after the accident, Jordan left the hospital and is now back at school.

7. Wife shot by husband got a new face

Connie Culp is a 46-year-old Ohio woman who has had the first face transplant in the US, and her new look was a far cry from the puckered, noseless sight that made children shrink away in horror, after being shot by her husband.

Culp's expressions are still a bit wooden, but she can talk, smile, smell and taste her food again. Her speech is at times a little tough to understand. Her face is bloated and squarish, and her skin droops in big folds that doctors plan to pare away as her circulation improves and her nerves grow, animating her new muscles. Culp's husband, Thomas, shot her in 2004 then turned the gun on himself. He went to prison for seven years. His wife was left clinging to life. The blast shattered her nose, cheeks, the roof of her mouth and an eye. Hundreds of fragments of shotgun pellet and bone splinters were embedded in her face. She needed a tube into her windpipe to breathe. Only her upper eyelids, forehead, lower lip and chin were left.

She endured 30 operations. Doctors took parts of her ribs to make cheekbones and fashioned an upper jaw from one of her leg bones. She had countless skin grafts from her thighs. Still, she was left unable to eat solid food, breathe on her own, or smell. Then, in a 22-hour operation, Dr. Maria Siemionow led a team of doctors who replaced 80 percent of Culp's face with bone, muscles, nerves, skin and blood vessels from another woman who had just died. It was the fourth face transplant in the world.

No information has been released about the donor or how she died, but her family members were moved when they saw before-and-after pictures of Culp.

8. Surfer mauled by a shark had his hanging hand reattached
Thirty-three- year-old Glenn Orgias was attacked by a great white shark while surfing at Sydney's Bondi Beach. He was taken to St Vincent's Hospital with his hand hanging by a three centimetre piece of skin. Plastic surgeon Dr Kevin Ho never expected that they would be able to reattach the hand.. But given the patient general health and the speed of which he was rushed into the operating theatre made it a possibility that he could have his hand reattached. Dr Ho said leeches were used as part of the effort to restore blood flow to the hand, and he is hopeful that Mr Orgias will regain function in it.
  

9. Paraplegic man suffered a spider bite and started walking again
A motorcycle accident almost killed David Blancarte 21 years ago. He was spared his life, but was unable to move his legs. He was confined to a wheelchair for 20 years. But two years ago, he was bitten by a brown recluse spider and was hospitalized for and spent 8 months in physical therapy.

In therapy, a nurse noticed a spasm in one of Blancarte's legs and run some tests. Five days later David was walking again.