What are the arguments for organ donation?
Expert Alert: 5 reasons to consider becoming an organ donor
- The need is tremendous.
- One donor can save many lives.
- More diverse donors are needed.
- Healthy people also can consider becoming a living donor.
- Thanks to medical advances, organ donors are saving more lives.
What is the most important organ to donate?
Kidneys
Kidneys: Kidneys are the most needed and most commonly transplanted organ. Kidneys are responsible for filtering waste and excess water from the blood and balancing the body’s fluids.
What are the cons of organ donation?
Immediate, surgery-related risks of organ donation include pain, infection, hernia, bleeding, blood clots, wound complications and, in rare cases, death. Long-term follow-up information on living-organ donors is limited, and studies are ongoing.
What considerations should be made before doing an organ transplant?
UNOS then generates a list of potential recipients, based on such factors as:
- Blood type.
- Tissue type.
- Organ size.
- Medical urgency of the patient’s illness.
- Time already spent on the waiting list.
- Geographical distance between the donor and the recipient.
What are the negative effects of organ donation?
But for the donor, organ donation can expose a healthy person to the risk of and recovery from unnecessary major surgery. Immediate, surgery-related risks of organ donation include pain, infection, hernia, bleeding, blood clots, wound complications and, in rare cases, death.
How long does an organ last?
“The kidneys, on the other hand, are very resilient.” Harvested kidneys can remain viable for 24 to 36 hours in cold storage, longer than any of the other top-four transplant organs. Lungs can remain viable for 6 to 8 hours, Lima said, and the liver can remain in cold storage for about 12 hours, according to Dr.