Organ Transplant | American Organ Transplant Association

Where do Organs Come From?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3118/3126737120_c7f517beaa.jpg

Human organs are the kind of thing you hope you never need to have replaced. When that kind of situation unfolds, you typically have serious problems to contend with. Other than the possibility of rejecting an organ implanted into you, you also have to contend with the possibilities of having it not work properly.

While most transplanted organs do come from reputable sources, there is a definite market segment that comes from questionable places. When you consider having an organ put into your body, you need to do your research to identify precisely where it came from. For this, you may have to do some challenging digging to make sure you’re getting an organ that didn’t end up killing or seriously injuring an otherwise healthy and innocent person. While you may feel like your life is worth anyone else’s suffering, you also may not feel that way.

For a lot of people who receive an organ transplant, the source isn’t very important to them. They just know that they’re alive and that’s the way they would prefer things to remain. However, there are also occasions when such a sentiment is just not ethical. If you feel like it’s important to both protect innocent people from having their organs stolen and to know where your organ came from, good job. This is the kind of attitude that keeps criminals from getting rich off of hurting and even killing innocent people just for a quick buck.

Filed Under: Organ Donors, Organ Transplant Tagged With: Organ, Organ donation, Organ transplantation

Texas Tries to Expand Organ Donor List

Image via Wikipedia

Texas has an organ donation problem. Close to 600 people on the state’s donation registry died in 2010 before they could ever receive the organs that they were waiting for. Lawmakers say that’s because not enough healthy Texans know about the state’s organ donation program and, therefore, aren’t registered to help those in need. Only about 7 percent of Texas residents are currently registered as organ donors.

The Texas House of Representatives already passed a bill that would transfer control of the Texas organ registry to a newly-created, private non-profit organization. The Texas Senate is expected to pass the bill in short order. The change would likely mean a more concentrated effort to register donors. Currently, there are an estimated 10,600 Texans waiting for organ transplants, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

There may be irony in the fact that Texas and organ donation has been in the news lately for a positive reason: the first full facial transplant in the United States was performed Dallas Weins, a Texas man, in March. The lips, nose, skin, muscle and nerves that were used on Weins were from an anonymous donor, but the operation was funded through the U.S. military.

The success of that operation may give the impression that the Texas organ donor program is working fine, but it’s unlikely that the candidate for the facial transplant had to go through the normal organ donation process since the procedure was backed and funded by the Department of Defense, which has donated millions of dollars to research for the experimental procedure.

Filed Under: Organ Donors, Organ Transplant Tagged With: Organ donation, Organ transplantation, United States

Military is Largest Funder of Face Transplant Research

Image via Wikipedia

As part of a medical procedure paid for by the U.S. military, 25-year-old Dallas Wiens has the first successful full face transplant in the United States. Previously, other facial transplants have taken place, but they didn’t involve the full gamut of nose, lips, skin, muscle and nerves that Wiens received during the 15-hour operation in March.

Many of the man’s features had been burned away when he hit a power line but said he’s adapted to his new face extremely well.While Wiens remains blind, he is now able to smell and breath from his nose – something he hasn’t been able to do since his accident.

The Department of Defense is hoping that it will be able to use the findings from the transplant to aid in the creation of treatments for soldiers with facial wounds that are considered severe. The Pentagon is the country’s leader when it comes to funding research on facial transplants. Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and The Cleveland Clinic have received millions of dollars to fund face transplants. The doctors and researchers that are involved in the surgeries are contributing to a collective knowledge that will help soldiers that have been disfigured in combat – some of them so much so that existing procedures were of little use.

Earlier this year, the military identified its first candidate from the ranks of the enlisted to be considered for a facial transplant. The procedure is still considered experimental, so the military has moved with caution, but with the success of Dallas Weins’ transplant, there seems to be some eagerness to help the men and women in uniform.

Filed Under: Organ Donors, Organ Transplant Tagged With: Boston, Face transplant, United States

How a Patient Advocate Can Help Transplant Patients

When you are going for an organ transplant, there are so many things that need to get done. You have to prepare for the procedure, research lots of information, and keep your head together all at the same time. Patient advocates can help you in so many ways.

Advocate for Your Rights

A patient advocate can advocate for your rights. Sometimes, when you stay in hospitals or when you are dealing with people in the medical field, your rights may be infringed upon. You may even be completely overlooked. A patient advocate will insure that you receive the utmost respect that you deserve and are treated in a way that is both ethical and dignifying.

Provide You with Vital Information

The process of getting an organ transplant may be chaotic and confusing, especially when things seem to happen all at once. A patient advocate can help you get all of the information that you need when you do not feel capable of handling the task of researching on your own. The patient advocate will sit down with you after he or she finds all of the information that you need and discuss everything to make sure you fully understand everything. It is the job of a patient advocate to keep you informed.

You may feel like you do not need a patient advocate. But even if you are capable of advocating for yourself, it is always a good idea to have one when going through something as major as this because it shows medical staff that you are in control and are not messing around, and you will not have the burden of dealing with everything all on your own.

Filed Under: Organ Transplant, Transplant Physician Tagged With: Organ transplantation

Emotionally Preparing for Transplant Surgery

When you have to undergo surgery to have an organ transplant, you will experience a lot of different emotions. You will feel scared because there are a lot of uncertainties about going through surgery to have an organ transplant. You will feel anxious because you hope that everything will turn out okay, and you will feel upset because you cannot believe this is you. On top of all of this, you will feel happy because you have an opportunity to live. If you want to deal with these emotions in the best way, there are some things you can do to make that possible.

Talk With Close Friends

One way to effectively cope with all of these emotions is to talk with close friends who understand you. Your close friends will be able to provide you with the support you need to get through the difficult times, and they will be there for you through the good times also. They will stand by you better than anyone else in the community, such as a medical professional or therapist.

Talk with a Therapist

While a therapist cannot provide the support that close friends can, they can help you to find strategies that will enable you to cope with everything better, and they will provide a professional opinion that your friends cannot that will help you to make better sense of what you are feeling.

Support Groups

Whether you attend a support group online or in the community, you will find the support you need from people who have been where you are or are currently in the same position you are. These people can share their stories, provide encouragement, and share strategies.

Filed Under: Organ Transplant, Transplant Physician Tagged With: Organ transplantation, Surgery

Developments in Organ Transplantation

For some time now, the world of medicine has been abuzz with interesting news of amazing discoveries and groundbreaking procedures. And with all honesty, some of these procedures are life-saving in addition to improving the quality of life. This is very important in a world like our where billions of people are plagued with one disease or the other. One of such recent advancements is organ transplantation.

Once considered outrageous and vainly fantastic, organ transplantation is now a very common procedure and there are transplants for organs like the liver and intestine to skin tissue. It is as if the re is a booming market for spare parts of the human body. Right from the time the first organ transplant was carried out in modern history, quite a number of developments have been observed.

One of the most obvious of these is the sheer diversity of organs that are available for transplantation. Although the procedure started with the traditional heart and kidneys, there are now transplants for the cornea, skin, thymus, liver, bone marrow and many more. In fact, if recent developments and findings in stem cell research are anything to go by, it will not be too long before transplants are available for every organ and tissue in the body. This is possible considering the fact that stem cells are pluripotent that is they have the ability to develop into any other cell in the body. The problem now for scientists is how to ‘tease’ a stem cell to develop into a nerve, muscle or bone.

Another development that has been witnessed is that black markets have cropped up in various places in order to satisfy the never-ending demands for organs, especially the kidney and liver. It has been observed that some citizensin the economically-disadvantaged Third World are willing to sell their organs to ultra-rich clients in places like the Middle East and Western Europe who are in dire need of organ replacement.

Filed Under: Heart & Kidney Transplant, Organ Transplant Tagged With: Middle East, Organ, Organ transplantation

After the Transplant

Some few centuries ago, millions of people lost their lives to diseases that are now routinely taken care of. In the past, the loss, infection or damageof a vital organ usually translates to death. However, in the modern world that is ruled by the powerful forces of science and technology, mortality rates have dropped drastically. This is because of many life-saving procedures in the field of medicine, one of which is organ transplantation.

Thanks to this procedure, millions of lives have been saved and even more will benefit in the nearest future. However, it must be emphasized that the process of organ transplantation is laden with challenges. These challenges exist before, during and even after the transplant. It is quite tempting to think that after the transplant, it is all over but that is not the real case. There is more to it than meets the eye even after a successful transplant.

One of the most important challenges that must be overcome after a transplant is organ rejection. Although considerable attention must have been put into selecting a suitable organ that will be close to the ideal for the patient, there can be an unwanted reaction between the transplanted organ and the host’s immune system. This is because the transplanted organ is regarded as ‘foreign’ by the body, which seeks to destroy it. In some cases, the transplanted organ may have to be removed to prevent a fatal immune response.

To prevent this, the patient has to take immunosuppressant drugs (which do not come cheap) with religious fervor and all seriousness if the procedure is to work. In addition, considering the fact that the organ is still trying to ‘acclimatize’ to the new environment, it is important that the patient keeps off harmful practices such as smoking, alcohol consumption and vigorous physical exercise whicn can weigh down the organ. This is even doubly important if the transplanted organ is a kidney or liver.

Filed Under: Heart & Kidney Transplant, Organ Transplant Tagged With: Organ, Organ transplantation, Transplant rejection

Organ Transplant: What it Takes

It is no longer news that a sizable percentage of those living in the planet today are plagued with one debilitating disease or the other. In some unfortunate cases, these conditions may render the organs useless by destroying them. This is what occurs in a case of end-stage renal disease in which the kidneys are destroyed and hepatitis in which the liver can be destroyed. However, the good news is that even in cases where these organs have been damaged by various diseases or toxins, there are steps that can be taken to prolong the patient’s life and give a higher quality of life.

One of such steps or measures is to take a transplant. However, it is important to know that it is not as simple as that. The process is more complex than simply removing an organ from one body and transplanting them into another, it takes more than that. One thing is that once your doctors have recommended organ transplant as a last resort, the race has started.

One of the first steps that have to be taken is to find a suitable donor. For many patients, this stage is sometimes more stressful and difficult than the disease itself. However, if you have an identical twin that is in good shape and is willing to go under the knife for you, then half of the problem is solved. If you are not that fortunate, you will have to look for a donor or kind-hearted volunteers, and seeing one is very rare, but not impossible. If you are in a country where this is regulated, you may just have to wait on the list and hope for the best.

Once you are clear with getting a donor and the operation is smooth, you have a new obstacle to face and that is organ rejection. To prevent this, you will have to rely on immunosuppresants.

Filed Under: Heart & Kidney Transplant, Organ Transplant Tagged With: Organ transplantation, Patient, Transplant rejection

Transplants: Wonders of Modern Medicine

According to a saying, when science or technology is sufficiently sophisticated, it becomes quite difficult to distinguish it from magic. This is a very true statement especially in the 21st century where one is awed by the incredible advances made in various facets of science and technology. Perhaps, some of the most amazing developments are those that have been in the life-saving field of medicine.

The medical world is always churning out one beneficial discovery after the other to the billions on this planet who stand to gain from such discoveries. From immunization to in-vitro fertilization, medicine has demonstrated that the future is brighter with science and technology. One of such discoveries that will be discussed here is organ transplantation. Although it was once faced with serious opposition like other novel concepts, organ transplants have come to stay –for good. However, that is not to say that all the battles have been won.

Nowadays, transplants are available for many organs and tissues in the body and these have proven to be extremely important in a number of cases. At this juncture, it will be informative to mention some of the organs and tissues. These include the heart, liver, pancreas, thymus, cornea, bone marrow, skin, intestines, kidney, musculoskeletal tissues (ligaments, tendons) and many others. The most exciting part of it is that research has not stopped in this field and if all works accordingly, transplants will be available for every single part of the human body.

This is quite possible considering the giant strides that have been made in the field of stem cell research. It is now known that stem cells have the property known as pluripotency. What this simply means is that a stem cell that is extracted from the bone marrow or the fetus has the ability to develop into any of the cells of the body.

Filed Under: Heart & Kidney Transplant, Organ Transplant Tagged With: Bone marrow, Medicine, Stem cell

When a Transplant is Needed

In our world of today, we are very opportuned to have access to things that only existed in the dreams of our ancestors. A few centuries ago, people died in their millions from diseases like smallpox that have now been eradicated through vaccination and immunization. Such is the amazing nature of strides that have been made in modern medical science.

Today, it is quite common to see patients go for routine organ transplantation procedures. It is a fact that this practice is one that is widely popular and one that grows by the day. However, when exactly is a transplant needed? Although when the word ‘transplant’ is mentioned, most people are tempted to think of organs. However, it is important to know that transplantation is not done for organs only as it is also done with tissues of the body. Tissue transplant becomes necessary in a case where the original tissue has become diseased, destroyed or infected. Burns victims may also be in need of skin transplant depending on how extensive the burn is. Cosmetic surgery is also another area where tissue transplantation is very essential. Either for children that have been born with congenital defects such as cleft lip and palate or supermodels that need to modify their looks, tissue transplantation is usually important.

In some other case, the patient may need more than just a tissue. He or she may be in serious need of a part of an organ or a whole organ in some cases. For example, for a patient that is suffering from chronic cardiac complications, a heart transplant may be the only thing that will save the life of the patient. Also, for another patient that has an end-stage disease of the kidney, a renal transplant is absolutely essential and liver transplant may be needed in conditions of liver cirrhosis or hepatitis.

Filed Under: Heart & Kidney Transplant, Organ Transplant Tagged With: Organ transplantation, Patient, Tissue (biology)