Organ Donation

Some body organs or tissues can fail in a person due to an infection or an accident. When this happens to a person, such a person’s life could be in danger. Therefore, the only way to save the person’s life is to replace the failed tissue or organ with a healthy one and hence the need for a healthy organ donation.

Body parts used in the organ donation process are gotten from either a living person or a person who has passed on. The person who donates his body part could be related or unrelated to the patient. A related person could be a child, a sibling or a parent. Similarly, the donor could be unrelated to the patient and could be a spouse or an acquaintance. In other cases, organs for transplant purposes are received from complete strangers who are people of good will. Irrespective of the type of a donor for the body part, the donor should have a blood group suited for the patient. He or she should be of the same blood group as the patient or a universal donor.

In addition to blood group consideration, the donor or the donor’s next of kin has to give consent for the transplant of his body part. Once consent is given, an organ is removed and transplanted into the patient with a few hours. It cannot be stored. Living donors can donate parts such as one of their kidneys or parts of a liver, a pancreas or intestines. A deceased person can donate the above organs and organs, heart, liver and pancreas. Other body parts that can be donated include tissues such as the skin and bone marrow, and blood and platelets.

Organ donation is a very beneficial process. A person who is about to die because of organ failure is able to get a second chance at life due to the organ transplant. Some of the organs that assist in saving lives are the heart and the liver. Another benefit with organ donation is in relation to the furthering of medicine through research. Some people donate their organs, as they approach their death, to medical institutions for purposes of research. With that research, experiments carried out help in finding new and better ways of treating conditions such as diabetes and cancer.

A person who receives an organ for transplant usually gets a second chance at life. A living donor surely feels gratified for giving another person such a chance. In a family setup, the donation improves the family ties.