• Some organs and tissues can be donated by living donors, such as a kidney or part of the liver, part of the pancreas, part of the lungs or part of the intestines, but most donations occur after the donor has died. (wikipedia.org)
  • While views of organ donation are positive, there is a large gap between the numbers of registered donors compared to those awaiting organ donations on a global level. (wikipedia.org)
  • To increase the number of organ donors, especially among underrepresented populations, current approaches include the use of optimized social network interventions, exposing tailored educational content about organ donation to target social media users. (wikipedia.org)
  • Organ donors are usually dead at the time of donation, but may be living. (wikipedia.org)
  • For living donors, organ donation typically involves extensive testing before the donation, including psychological evaluation to determine whether the would-be donor understands and consents to the donation. (wikipedia.org)
  • For dead donors, the process begins with verifying that the person is undoubtedly deceased, determining whether any organs could be donated, and obtaining consent for the donation of any usable organs. (wikipedia.org)
  • When organs are sourced from deceased persons, the donation must be voluntary, donors must die naturally before any organs are taken, and death must not be hastened to provide organs. (leaps.org)
  • This post will cover the landscape of kidney donation in the UK, how kidneys from living donors are shared in the UK, the process of donating through the UKLKSS, and some reflections on my experience. (effectivealtruism.org)
  • Around 3,000 kidney donations take place in the UK each year, of which about 2,000 originate from deceased donors (an opt-out system of organ donation after death came into effect in Wales in 2015, in England in 2020, and in Scotland in 2021, and Northern Ireland will follow suit in 2023), and about 1,000 from living donors . (effectivealtruism.org)
  • Kidneys constitute by far the most frequently donated solid organ in the UK (67.6% of all solid organ donations in 2019/20), followed by liver lobes (which can also be donated by living donors), and heart, lungs and pancreas (which obviously cannot). (effectivealtruism.org)
  • How are kidneys from living donors shared in the UK? (effectivealtruism.org)
  • Kidneys donated from living donors are 'shared' across the UK through the UKLKSS, which includes paired/pooled donations (PPD), and altruistic donor chains (ADCs) that are initiated by non-directed altruistic donors (NDADs). (effectivealtruism.org)
  • Such donors are registered into the UKLKSS and donate to a recipient in the paired/pooled scheme, triggering an ADC consisting of multiple donations (NDAD donates to R1, D1 donates to R2, D2 donates to D3, and so on) that culminates (when no compatible linked pairs remain) in the last donor donating to a recipient on the national waiting list. (effectivealtruism.org)
  • the number of LDKMRs the recipient has previously participated in, the age difference between donors, and the proximity of donors and recipients (the complexity of coordinating ADCs, which may involve three simultaneous donor nephrectomies, cross-country transportation of donated kidneys, and three simultaneous graft insertions, each potentially at different Transplant Centres across the UK, is of substantial scale). (effectivealtruism.org)
  • The first living organ donor in a successful transplant was Ronald Lee Herrick (1931-2010), who donated a kidney to his identical twin brother in 1954. (wikipedia.org)
  • The oldest altruistic living organ donor was an 85-year-old woman in Britain, who donated a kidney to a stranger in 2014 after hearing how many people needed to receive a transplant. (wikipedia.org)
  • Researchers were able to develop a novel way to transplant human fetal kidneys into anephric rats to overcome a significant obstacle in impeding human fetal organ transplantations. (wikipedia.org)
  • A heart transplant can literally give a person a new lease of life, while a kidney transplant frees the recipient from lengthy spells on dialysis. (leaps.org)
  • The youngest organ donor was a baby with anencephaly, born in 2014, who lived for only 100 minutes and donated his kidneys to an adult with renal failure. (wikipedia.org)
  • At any one time, some 3,500-5,000 patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) sit on the UK's national waiting list in need of a kidney donation. (effectivealtruism.org)
  • While waiting for a replacement kidney, these individuals must undergo renal dialysis for three to four hours per session, three times every week, which imposes severe limitations on the freedom in their lives and their ability to enjoy a 'normal' existence. (effectivealtruism.org)
  • Organ donation is the process when a person allows an organ of their own to be removed and transplanted to another person, legally, either by consent while the donor is alive or dead with the assent of the next of kin. (wikipedia.org)
  • On the day of the donation, the donor and the recipient arrive at the hospital, just like they would for any other major surgery. (wikipedia.org)
  • Last week I donated a kidney as an altruistic donor through the UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme (UKLKSS). (effectivealtruism.org)
  • A person in need of a kidney (the recipient) may have a specific individual (such as a family member, partner or close friend) who is prepared to donate one to them (the donor), but is unable to do so directly since this donor-recipient pair is incompatible by Human Leucocyte Antigen (HLA) type or ABO blood group. (effectivealtruism.org)
  • Such incompatible linked donor-recipient pairs are registered in the UKLKSS and 'matched,' through quarterly Living Donor Kidney Matching Runs (LDKMR), with other incompatible linked donor-recipient pairs that, in some combination, are together compatible for donation exchanges. (effectivealtruism.org)
  • The first non-directed altruistic kidney donation in the UK took place in 2006 and, since the beginning of the UKLKSS in 2012, around 60-100 NDADs have donated a kidney in the UK each year, constituting 6-10% of the total number of annual living donor kidney donations in the country. (effectivealtruism.org)
  • Individuals not in linked pairs but who wish to donate a kidney without the promise of a linked recipient receiving one in return can do so anonymously as NDADs. (effectivealtruism.org)
  • Donation may be for research or, more commonly, healthy transplantable organs and tissues may be donated to be transplanted into another person. (wikipedia.org)
  • At the time, it was a mystery as to how China had a ready supply of organs, despite having no volunteer donation system. (leaps.org)
  • Hospital websites offered livers, hearts and kidneys available in a matter of days or weeks, for a price. (leaps.org)
  • Death row prisoners often have poor health , including high rates of infectious diseases, making them poor candidates for donation. (leaps.org)
  • Every year August 13 is observed as World Organ Donation Day to raising awareness about the importance of organ donation. (wikipedia.org)
  • These visits can open up debate about religious principles of organ donation as volunteers share the realities of kidney disease and the importance of registering an organ and tissue donation decision. (vhscotland.org.uk)
  • Organ donation is the process when a person allows an organ of their own to be removed and transplanted to another person, legally, either by consent while the donor is alive or dead with the assent of the next of kin. (wikipedia.org)
  • Every year August 13 is observed as World Organ Donation Day to raising awareness about the importance of organ donation. (wikipedia.org)
  • Increased awareness of living donor transplantation allows informed conversations to take place within families, and hopefully overcome some misconceived barriers. (vhscotland.org.uk)