Pig Parts Heal Humans

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- One in 20 people will need some kind of tissue transplant in their lifetime. Some researchers believe pigs may be the key to faster healing from the transplants.  From hernias to plastic surgery, pig tissue is helping humans get back in the game
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A few years ago, golf moves didn't come easily for Chris Nelson.

"I was having pain even standing for an extended period of time," Nelson told Ivanhoe.

Nelson had a hernia in his groin -- the muscle had torn. Instead of using donor tissue, doctors repaired it with material made from the small intestines of pigs.

 "It did seem almost like weird science or something like that," Nelson said.

"Pigs have been a very popular or common animal to use," Samer Mattar, M.D., a bariatric surgeon at Clarian Bariatrics in Indianapolis, Ind., told Ivanhoe. "Believe it or not, their genetic makeup is pretty close to humans'."

When placed on the torn tissue, the body uses the pig part as a scaffold or guide to remodel and repair itself. Over time, the pig's tissue is replaced by human tissue, providing a permanent repair.

"Over time, it's very hard to distinguish where the graft or the pig's tissues are versus the patient's," Dr. Mattar said.

Besides hernias, the pig tissue can be used in ulcer repair, wound care, plastic surgery and weight loss surgery. Doctors say compared to a human donor, the pig tissue has less risk of causing an allergic reaction.

"No pain whatsoever," Nelson said. "It's great."

Nelson is back at his game.

"I would say my game's getting better, but I probably wouldn't be honest at that point," he said.

But he's satisfied with simply feeling better.

There is a chance the body sees the animal-based product as a foreign object and rejects the new tissue, but Dr. Mattar says he has never seen a rejection.

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