The Pros and Cons of Organ Donation Essay

Today we are in great need of a solution to solve the problem of the shortage of human organs available for transplant. The website for Donate Life America estimates that in the United States over 100 people per day are added to the current list of over 100,000 men, women, and children that are waiting for life-saving transplants. Sadly enough, approximately 18 people a day on that list die just because they cannot outlive the wait for the organ that they so desperately need to survive. James Burdick, director of the Division of Transplantation for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services confirms, “The need for organ transplants continues to grow and this demand continues to outpace the supply of transplantable organs”. The

Since the first successful kidney transplant in 1954, the procedure has evolved from a risky experimental procedure to a relatively safe and standard procedure. Since then, doctors have been consistently raising the bar and have had success with numerous organ transplants, including hearts, lungs, livers, skin and even full facial transplants. Organs can be donated from the obvious, a deceased person, or from a cadaveric donor (someone who is declared brain dead) or from live donors. The transplantable organs from a live donor include the kidney, part of the lung and liver, and part of the eye, the cornea. The donor organs

According to United Network for Organ Sharing (2010) organ donations and transplantation are the removal of organs and tissues from one person and placed into another person’s body. The need for organ transplantation usually occurs when the recipient organ has failed (UNOS, 2010). Organ donation can save the lives of many individuals who are on the waiting list for an organ donation. Becoming an organ donor can be a difficult decision. Many people have the false beliefs about being an organ donor. An example would be if organ donor is on their driver’s license and a person is in a life-threatening accident everything will not be done to save their life. There is an increase need for organ donors and unfortunately the need for organ

1. Organ donation is a selfless way to give back to others, and to be able to make a huge difference by giving another person a second chance at life.

In order to be eligible for an organ donation list, you must be in end-stage organ failure. This means that one of the patient’s organs has not been working for a while and it is impossible for them to live without some kind of help or transplant. For many patients, end-stage organ failure can come as a shock even if they have known for months that one of their organs was failing. With kidneys, this means the patients are put on dialysis if they are not already. Dialysis is a process that mechanically helps to do the things that the kidneys normally do. This can include filtering waste and toxins out of the body. Many organs can be transplanted from living and dead donors, including kidneys, heart, lung,

Organ donations not only save lives but also money and time. If organ donations became prevalent the organ recipient would no longer need dialysis. Since there is no need for dialysis the cost to use the machine would lessen; this means that the cost of equipment would decrease, saving the hospital and insurance company’s money. More lives would be saved as well as benefit from those that no longer need an organ. In the book titled “Elements of Bioethics” adult organ transplants are only that have medical insurance. If organs are taken from recently deceased the cost for those that has no medical coverage was lessen. The process of organ transplantation is life changing and time is crucial. With shorter waiting time it would put ease on the person’s heart to know that this lifesaving event would happen sooner rather than later. In addition, when the organ is taken from the recently deceased the risk would be eliminated from

Death is inevitable and no one knows what happens after someone dies. Being an organ donor could mean the body of the deceased would be taken away from the family members when they die. But, in a way, the deceased

Most donated organs and tissues are from people who have died. However, a living person can donate some organs as well as stem cells, blood, and platelets. The amount of people in the U.S. that are not able to donate organs is minimal. People with certain medical conditions are not able to donate

Organ donation is the medical process of voluntarily giving one or more of your organs to someone in need, whether it be someone you know or a stranger. It is strictly voluntary, no payment for the organ/s will be given from the hospital, the recipient or the recipients family. In organ donation, there are two types of donations, living organ donation and deceased organ donation. Living organ donation is when the donor is still alive and voluntarily chooses to donate one or more of their organs to a recipient(s) in need. Whereas, deceased organ donation happens after the donor has passed away, and consent was given to be able to donate their organs.

The donor’s body is highly monitored to assure that the organs are kept alive for the patient. The organs cannot be preserved very long once outside the body. The special transplant medical teams must arrive to the hospital quickly. Some organ’s preservation time is longer than others, for example a kidney can be preserved for up to 72 hours outside of the body. Livers can be preserved for up to 24 hours. On the other hand, hearts and lungs can only last up to four hours (“How Does the Donor Process Work?”).

10% of the people on the waiting list for an organ are under the age of 18. Imagine if one person in that statistic was your best friend, or your little brother or sister. The number of organ donors is slowly growing, but so is the number of people who are in need of organs. These people have the potential to live with your beneficial help.

You can also be a living donor, you can donate partial kidney, partial lung, pancreas, intestine, bone marrow ,skin tissue,

Every two hours someone dies waiting for an organ transplant. 18 people will die each day waiting for an organ. One organ donor can save up to 8 lives. . THE NEED IS REAL

Living and deceased. The most common organ that is donated while living is the kidney, but you can also donate your lung, liver, and very rarely the pancreas and intestine. Most of the time, living donors donate their organs to family members and close friends, but it is still possible to donate to an anonymous patient. To become a living donor, you have to be at least 18 years old and have no medical conditions.

When contemplating to donate, many different organs can be donated. These are only some of the possible organs that can be donated. A heart valve, intestines, bones, and tendons (“What Organs Can Be”). Some other organs are the kidneys, heart, lungs, liver, small bowel, and the pancreas (“Frequently Asked Questions”). And finally bone marrow, and connective tissues can be donated (“Organ Donation and Transplantation”). When a person is living and they want to donate, they can donate one kidney, one lung, a portion of their liver, a pancreas, and part of their intestine (“What Can be Donated”). When someone passes away and is a deceased donor, they can donate every thing listed above, and not just a portion of one (“What Can Be Donated”).