Given that people will not change their behaviours easily, there are some circumstances when this foible can be used to the advantage of society. Take the case of organ donation, for example. Most people would readily agree that donating organs to people who need them is a good thing overall (it occurs after you are dead and so you know nothing about it). Further, improvements in safety in cars and driving techniques in western countries, in particular, mean that the supply of organs from people killed in road traffic accidents has decreased significantly.

Yet even so, people only indicate their willingness to donate their own organs in small numbers – in Britain, it was historically the case that it was necessary to put a tick in a box on your driving license to indicate your assent. People did not do it – perhaps they are lazy, perhaps they do not want to think about their own mortality, perhaps indeed they have some ethical problem with organ transplants.

In order, therefore, to increase the numbers: change the wording, so it says ‘if you do not want to donate your organs, tick here.’ In that way, people who are lazy or do not want to think about the issue can just ignore it and they will be included in the scheme automatically.

There are many examples of how this technique could be used to bring about desirable changes in society. However, there are some genuine ethical issues to consider: to what extent does the state have the right to bring about these policies? To what extent should people be consulted before making any changes? It is probably wisest to consider the issue on a case-by-case basis.

For more details, see Richard H Thaler and Cass R Sunstein, Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness (Penguin, 2008).

That was not where I was meaning to go. Just for context sake I will sum the movie up here, if you have seen it feel free to skip ahead. Basic story-line is people have found a way to raise the average life expectancy to 100 years, their way of doing this is through organ donation. The story takes place in London at a boarding school of sorts. The children of the school (spoiler alert!) are being raised for organ donation. Throughout the movie they learn about what their purpose is in life and it got me to thinking what are we here for? 

I know its a very heavy question and it could drive you mad thinking about it. But its something that will always bother you no matter where you go in life. It causes you to think carefully about everything you do. For example when deciding where to do to University, what job to take, what to major in, who should I marry. There are too many choices that could all alter the course of your life. I don’t want this too be too philosophical, but it makes me wonder how do you know when you are making a proper decision in life. In the movie there was a group of friends, two girls and a boy. Now one of the girls had deep feelings for the boy and the second girl was jealous, so naturally she took the boy from the girl he was in love with. For most of the movie they were together and finally towards the end the girl who truly loves him gets to be with him but only for a short while. Now I just wonder what kind of a person can be so selfish to do something like that? I’ll admit in my life I’ve only been with my significant other for a short while and wonder all the time how long it will last, but from here I’ve learned that every little bit counts. 

You must realize that this life is short. Know one can tell you where you’re going to be tomorrow if you and your lover are going to be together forever, if you’re still going to be talking to your best friend six months from now. But what we all have to realize especially going into this new year is to take everything with a grain of salt. My goal for this year is to start appreciating things more and being happier with what I have. Please share what you intend to get out of this coming year. Happy reading.

Down here in the lands that straddle the equator, the home to our early cousins such as the Kenyapiticus, death, as in many regions of the world is a taboo subject. Death especially that of kind, still remains an unturned stone in the long grail of human knowledge even in the 21st century where time, geographical distance is increasingly malleable thanks to yesterday’s miracles becoming today’s everyday happenings.

My grandmother born at the dead off the 19th century can’t come to terms with how her great grand children can wish her a happy birthday yet they are so many moons and sunrises away. Yet, the little piece of technology in her possession responsible for this peculiarity is what I would label a first generation mobile device- just a green call button, a red hang up button ,keypad and an operating menu of contacts, messages and call records.

Not anywhere close to the gadgets that we carry around that are our banks, shopping malls,one stop infotainment and even blood pressure monitoring device. And we are just talking cell phones. Thus understandably so, it was an issue of national debate when one geriatric fellow from the coast was audacious enough to choose the wood, design, lining and color of their own coffin. Not once, but twice!

The first time, his coffin found other use when an age-mate in his village met the angel of death. And so he donated his coffin, as the old woman had outlived her dependents. The villagers had hoped that the madness of the old man had been caused by the bad wind that comes in with the tide; causing a tsunami that had wrecked havoc in his higher faculties.

Elizabeth Taylor Prepared For Her Own Death

Image by Alan Light via Flickr

He said he was just preparing for his own death. Nothing different from what Elizabeth Taylor did in staging a late arrival to her own funeral, I understood. In his defense, probably a tale of the silent endemic crawling across the globe, that is unique to the 21st Century. Thanks to modern medicine and modern science, the world is aging as people live longer and procreate less.

Looking at the triple disaster in Japan, it becomes apparent the probable public health burden that this trend portends. in his explanation to the purturbed villagers, the old man explained that he didn’t want to be burden to those left behind when death came calling. Maybe if emerging statistics are to be believed, a little pragmatism regarding death would be just the right medicine for Jane,Tom and Harry. Just maybe not so long in the coming future, alongside creating retirements..

Draft a Will to Settle Your Estate: Resource is scarce and in its scarcity it tends to bring the worst out of civilized human beings. It is just not a pretty sight whenever family tussle over the earthly possessions of the departed. Even princes and princesses get caught in this unpleasant squabble. It is thus not a class or cadre issue.

Life Insurance: The rappers I hear talk of ice-insurance. What ever your pick, lay the ground for prosperity for your progeny in the event of the only other thing that is absolute save for taxes: death

Create Memories: Laugh, smile, dance, jump, cry, sing, play, live life. If possible, freeze the moments in photos, videos, writings and paintings . Life goes on after death. There is always a connection that cannot be explicibly explained or conceptualised when you look at those black and white photos of great grandpa, grandma

Preserve Your Ova or Open an Account With a Sperm Bank: If the theories- conspiracy, scientific and otherwise- floating about on germ-line therapy are true, who knows?

Organ Donation: Would you like your whole body donated for the cause of science? Or would you like your healthy organs harvested and donated to enable one with a chance at  beating death? If so, inquire at hospitals, universities and wit your lawyer just how this can e done without much ado upon your demise. 

     The bill that made this action legal was passed

Image by Brooklyn Museum via Flickr

in 1988 during the height of the AIDS scare.  This bill needs to be repealed or amended so that the lives of the hundreds of thousands of people living in the United States with AIDS or HIV can have easier access to organs for donation.  It will also give people with HIV and AIDS more solace in their deaths, knowing that even after they have died, their organs may help to lengthen the live of someone else suffering from the same condition as themselves.

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

            In 1912, Alexis Carrel, a French surgeon, developed a successful method of joining blood vessels together and later used this knowledge to experiment with transplants in biology. Along with the work that Carrel did, and the medication developed by Sir Peter Brain Medawar and Sir Macfalane Burnet that helped suppress the immune system so the body could accept a foreign object, the first successful kidney transplant was accomplished in 1954. In the years following this, more and different organs have been transplanted and better anti-rejection medication has been developed.

             Although this life saving technology is available, over 101,000 people still need organs according to www.unos.org. Every thirteen minutes, another name is added to the waiting list. Everyday, only sixty-three people get a much needed organ. Everyday, seventeen people die, waiting for a second chance at life. These people are mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, friends. Can you even image what it must be like to know your dying? What it must be like, hoping, day after day, that some stranger will care enough to donate a deceased family members organs? Sadly, many people don’t want to donate their organ, or a family members organs because of questions, concerns, or fears that they have concerning organ donation.

            One question many people have is whether or not their religion approves of donating organs. Based on a survey done by the New York Regional Transplant Program, out of the thirty-two main religions, only the Romany Gypsies and the Shinto religions disapprove of organ donating and transplants. The Amish do approve of both, but only if the outcome is favorable. Maybe this is God’s way of telling people that He has given this technology to us so that fewer lives can be lost.

            Many people are afraid that if they do agree to donate a family members organs that the surgery required to harvest the organs will disfigure the body so badly that it would prevent them from having an open casket at the funeral. The truth is that when the surgical transplant team harvests the organs, only a small scar will remain. That scar would be similar to the scar someone would receive if their appendix had been removed or if they had had any other surgeries. Besides, isn’t a scar a small price for saving more than fifty lives? That’s right. organdonor.gov says that by donating yours, or a family member’s organs, fifty or more lives can be saved, depending on which organs are given.

            That brings us to another question people have. The question is, what organs can I donate or will I even have a choice on what I want to donate? The family members of the deceased choose which organs to give and which ones not to give. However, only certain organs can be donated because of the condition they might be in at that time, which is another reason why it is so important to donate organs.

            People often wonder and are afraid that doctors wouldn’t work as hard to save them if they sign a donor card and they come into the emergency room. If the doctors do somehow find out that you wish to be an organ donator, they wouldn’t work any less hard to save you. The issue of organ donate usually even doesn’t come up until there is very little or no chance at all that a person will make it. Most, if not all of the time, a different doctor is called in after that, so you shouldn’t let this fear stop you from signing a donor card or telling your family of your wishes.

            One of the more serious questions people have is when is someone legally dead? How does someone know that? The doctor, or more likely, doctors, will be able to tell if someone is dead by using a machine to record any and all brain wave activity that is present. Once there is no more brain activity, that person is declared legally dead. With this machine, there is no way they could be wrong.

            A popular myth that many people have heard is about a man who woke up one day and found out that both of his kidneys had been removed. Later, his kidneys were sold on the black market to the highest bidder. Although this story has never, and probably will never be proven to have happened, people are scared that by signing a donor card, they too will be hunted down for their organs. Only highly skilled and trained surgeons would be able to do that. In the very highly unlikely event that someone does takes someone else’s organs without their permission, the police would be able to figure out who did it and most people would not want to take that high of a risk. Besides, almost every doctor wants to save lives, not take them. You too can help save lives by signing a donor card, telling your family, or agreeing to donate a family member’s organs.

            One thing many people don’t realize is that even if you do sign a donor card that does not mean that your wishes will be carried out. You have to tell your family and stress the importance of it. Otherwise, someone may not get a second chance at life if you don’t.

            Life really is a beautiful thing that should be treasured and enjoyed as long as possible. Sadly, for the more than 81,000 people on the waiting list, life is far from beautiful. Life for them is about waiting and hoping that they are one of the sixty-three people who will receive an organ. Life for them is about fearing that one day in the very near, they will be one of the seventeen that die every single day of the year. Don’t be afraid to sign a donor card or tell your family about your wishes because of unreasonable fears. Don’t hide behind the popular excuse that your religion won’t approve, because most religions do approve. Many people are depending on you to be willing to donate yours, or a deceased family member’s organs. You’re never too young or too old to help a stranger out by donating organs. Just think about it for a minute. What if you or someone you cared about needed an organ or else death was certain? Wouldn’t you want someone to care enough to help you or them out?

A scientist may tell you that it is ‘For the good of Mankind‘ or ‘With the transplantation of animal’s organs, we can save human lives.’ But let me ask you this. Is a human’s life more valuable than an animals? Did God, if you believe in God, give Noah his Ark and his animals to disect them, and use them to keep his wife and family healthy? No, you don’t see that happening in the bible? God didn’t give us these creatures to use as TOOLS, he gave them to us to look after.

As is being planned, five ‘genetically mutated‘ piglets are being raised, for their hearts to be given to humans. However, look at it this way…

If you are a HUMAN you MUST give permission to be an organ donor, and if you do not give permission before your death, you are not legally allowed to have your organs taken from you. But what about the piglets? Do the doctors and scientists have their permission, to kill them, and then take away their organ’s, for the benefit of mankind?

Now i’m no vegetarian, but is this right?

I can picture the puzzled look on a few readers faces as they begin to read this article but this is an important topic.  In UK, there is a decline of Organ donations and this is one of the ideas being put forward to encourage people to donate their Organs. Cash incentives or funeral expenses. I know this sounds depressing, but a lot of people die waiting for Transplants.

The Pros

1) Less people would die – There would be more organs available for heart/Kidney Transplants etc

2) Following above – Families would not lose their loved ones. They can spend longer with them.

3) For Funeral expenses – the expenses are covered and the family don’t have to worry about the costs.

Cons

1) People could start disappearing as there are some weird people out there, who Kill and take the body parts.

Summary, I personally think people should donate for free, as we didn’t pay for our bodies.

It would be interesting to know your thoughts…

Time

This is the biggest issue that faces most of those on the organ transplant list. Time is a luxury that seems entirely endless to those of us that are healthy, but to those who’s bodies are failing on them due to either mistreatment of their body, faulty genes, parasites, or something else, time is a luxury they just cannot afford.

We will use Bob as an example for this. Bob seemed entirely healthy, and lived a very happy life. He worked his dream job as a fireman, he has a two-story house with a garage, and he is married to a beautiful woman and has two beautiful children. Everyone loves Bob; he is a joy to have at work, and is just that guy that you know is going places. Tragedy strikes poor Bob in the form of a car accident. Another driver runs a red light right as he’s going through an intersection, and hits Bob’s car directly on the side. The crash immediately knocks Bob out, and he wakes up hours later in the hospital. Soon after, the doctors tell him that he is lucky to be alive, but he isn’t out of the woods yet. You see, in the accident, the driver managed to hit him in such a spot that it caused a piece of the car to jab into Bob’s torso, causing severe damage to his liver and kidneys. He is put on a dialysis machine right away, and machines work around the clock to keep poor Bob alive. Bob is immediately put on the organ transplant list, where he will wait for weeks on end. Finally, the bill becomes too much for his insurance company to pay, and cuts him off. Bob now has to pay the bills with his own pocket money. Another month goes by, and Bob is in trouble. His health is rapidly deteriorating, and he is struggling to breathe. Worse yet, he has almost entirely depleted his funds, and has resorted to selling his house to pay the bills.

Sadly, after another month of waiting on the transplant list, Bob dies at the tender age of 33, spending the last of his money, leaving his family in massive debt. Why couldn’t Bob get the transplant operations he needed? That is very simple to answer: there just aren’t enough organs going around. Ever since the seat-belt became more widely used throughout automobiles, it has saved the lives of thousands of those during a car accident. Car accidents is where most of the organ “donors” came from. The families of those who had recently died, or were pronounced brain dead are then to decide whether or not the organs will be used to save the lives of others. In one sense, you would think that those families would easily make the right decision in letting their son or daughter die, so that another person would live. Think of it this way: Your dying friend’s body will be mutilated their organs to be donated, and it isn’t enough that they will be dying, its the fact that their body won’t even remain intact. Granted, there are plenty of people who will allow the organs to be transplanted into another patient so that they may live, but in a world of so few organs, the few that choose not to is a huge blow.

Organ Types

Another problem faced by those who need organs is the type of organ that the patient will need. A heart transplant patient is much less likely to receive what they need than a patient that needs a new kidney. This is because, looking back to what I mentioned earlier organ donors, each person that is donating only has a certain number of useful organs. That person has two donate-able kidneys that could be useful, but only one heart. Not only is there a difference in the number of organs needed, to make matters worse, each organ has to be a match for the recipient. You may have a perfectly good heart that was donated after the death of a loved one, but it sure isn’t going to do the patient any good if it isn’t a match for the patient. If anything, the body would try to destroy the new invading organ as quickly as possible; the body would basically destroy itself. Even if the right organ is found, the recipient will have to take an immunosuppresive drug that will keep the body from attacking that organ, and continue taking it for the rest of their life. Organ transplants usually aren’t permanent, but may allow an extra 10-20 years of life that the person may not have had beforehand.

The problem with immunosuppresive drugs is the exact thing it is good for. When a patient receives an organ, the body will immediately tell that it does not belong and try to remove it. It will send T-cells and antibodies to destroy the organ. So the use of immunosuppresive drugs is recommended in order to stop the immune system from destroying the organs. There is a problem with these drugs though: It basically shuts off the immune system from killing the organ, and in doing so, also affects the body’s ability to off-hold infection, much as the HIV virus would. These pills actually decrease live expectancy by anywhere from 10 to 30 years, and the debate over whether they should even be considered to be used has been the focus of many; however, if you ask those who are currently taking the medication after the receive their organs, they will tell you that it is a small price to pay when given another chance at life.

Research

This may sound weird, but the very researching of organ transplants is a cause as to more transplants do not occur. It is sometimes ethically frowned upon by many in the public eye, as someone has to die for another to live. This reason caused many experiments to be done on transplanting through different methods. One doctor gave the heart of a baboon to a baby girl, but sadly the body did not take it, and the baby died just weeks after. Another doctor tried to make a mechanical heart, but had failed to test it on any animals beforehand. When they transplanted the organ, the patient recovered almost instantaneously, but only days later, the organ failed, and that patient spent the next nine months in agony before finally passing. Both incidents caused an extremely large negative reaction from the public, and practices on both were discontinued. Recently, picking up both types of surgery are being debated, and tinkering with mechanical hearts, and other mechanical organs, is being practiced once again, though human testing is not happening just yet. These are only a few of the many problems faced by organ donors and doctors. What about the positives?

New Strides in Donating

Science has teamed up with doctors in new methods of giving successful organ donations to those who need them, giving hope to all those waiting for organs. My favorite idea by far, which has proven successful, has allowed for the elimination of needing to take immunosuppresive drugs. It requires another donation from the same donor before the organ is received, but it will keep the body from attacking the organ once received. This method is done through bone marrow transplant. The bone marrow is what holds the pride of your body: the immune system. Now, in the best of matches, there is only a 50% chance that the bone marrow transplant will take, but if it does, that person will be able to receive any organ from the donator that they need, This is because the body, although not accepting the new immune system as its own, will learn to “tolerate” the new immune system. Once it has built a “tolerance” to this new immune system, you can now give the organ, which will have the same signature on the body as the bone marrow, and so the body will not try and attack the new organ, but accept it and use it as its own. Now it isn’t fool-proof, and new methods are being tested in order to increase that 50% best scenario chance of success, and it may only be a few years before we just find it, because I mean heck, 40 years ago, we thought it was crazy to even try an organ transplant.

Another method that is under hot debate as “ethically unsavory” would be to breed human-type organs in animals, namely pigs. Now this is under hot debate for a variety of reasons, most of which I personally do not agree on. Many animal activists find that raising pigs, and other animals, with human-type organs would be basically a type of animal cruelty, or perhaps inhumane, as the animals would have HUMAN organs, so what would make them less human than us? I disagree strongly with this view; we already kill millions of pigs and other animals each year for food, why not harvest our new organs from these animals before we eat them? The animals would end up on our plate either way, and so I find this topic ruled out. If we bred more animals with human-type organs, we could be looking at the end of organ shortage as we know it. The harder part to rule out is the idea that if we accept the human-grown organs from animals, we could open up a Pandora’s box to new diseases specific to that animal that may lead to our undoing through a major pandemic. This one is obviously harder to revoke, and I do agree that this is definitely something we should look into. Perhaps we should research the animals in which we harvest our organs, and find a cure for the diseases they face so that we could help ourselves if the time came. The real benefit is that we would no longer have to watch our loved ones’ bodies be mutilated for the organs, because we could just take the needed organ for another animal specially and genetically bred for the occasion.

Science is also attempting to BUILD new organs from mechanical parts, rather than organic. These parts, if functioning properly, would allow us to become borderline superheroes, to an extent. It would increase life expectancy drastically, as the body’s organs would be stronger for a longer period of time, and the person would be able to move like they always have. Recently, a small machine was built that is put into the heart that, although makes it so that you have no pulse, actually allows for a better blood flow through the body. New mechanical organs are currently being tested on animals, with mixed results; some of the organs would for a while in some animals, but not at all in others, and other devices work well but only for a short time.

Wrapping up

Organ donors will continue to face hardships so long as we have a dwindling supply of organ donors. Unless something is done quickly, more and more will die each year of some type of organ failure. If we bound together as a people and force science into speeding up its research, we may insure that maybe tomorrow if one of your loved ones need a new lung, it can be rest assured that they will receive it, or an equivalent. For all those that have passed, may God bless and rest their souls, their fight is over, but with their passing, they may give some of their organs if needed, which would be highly accepted by many others waiting on the transplant list. For those still on that waiting list, I wish you the best of luck in finding a donor, and I wish you long years of happiness once you find your donors. Of course I know there are a lot more problems for those that are on the donation list, and I’m aware that there are more solutions being practiced currently, but this is meant entirely on a basic overview. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, additions you would add for extra input, or anything else, please feel free to comment, and as always, thanks for reading.

Are you sure you have both kidneys and ovaries in place? Time to check for these vital organs. Organ smuggling is rife in our societies and men and women especially those who take alcohol and forget themselves are losing vital organs to these criminals. They harvest the organs and take them to far away countries where they fetch a lot of money on the black market.

What is organ smuggling?

Some diseases have no complete cure and therefore patients may need a transplant. Finding healthy organs for the transplant process is a tall order. Furthermore, many friends and relatives are less than willing to donate an organ because of the risks involved. Organ smugglers find unsuspecting victims, harvest their vital organs and smuggle them across borders to where they are best needed. Such organs fetch some good money on the black market even though it is illegal.

How organ harvesting takes place

a) Organ harvesting from drunken revelers – A man enters a bar and orders his drink. Not far away, criminals are waiting for him to pass out and latch onto him like vultures. If he doesn’t, they wait for him to go to the washrooms, accost him and surgically remove some vital organs for sell on the black market.

Of course when you wake up, you are in pain and are taken to hospital for later diagnosis, but if you aren’t lucky then you die and very few people will know what befell you. The smugglers are looking for healthy kidneys, hearts or ovaries. Crooked doctors act as brokers and easily find a market for these vital organs at a throw away price.

b) Use of drugs to numb the victim’s senses – Those organ smugglers may not involve you in a physical fight, they may use drugs to numb your senses and put you to sleep, and just when you have passed out completely they operate on you and remove what they need. They are well trained and therefore know how to locate your heart, kidney or ovary with precision and since many people can survive very well on one kidney or ovary without suspicion, the trade continues.

c) Killing their victim before organ harvesting – Some other organ smugglers are going for other body parts instead of the heart, the kidney, the ovaries or the thymus. They want your reproductive organs and will kill you for it. These organs are used by black magicians who believe they can make people rich or politicians to win general elections. If you wake up and find there is nothing down there, well, the smugglers might have visited in the dead of the night and made away with your loot.

d) Voluntary organ donation – Some poor people have been known to sell their organs at a throw away price when they find they can not make ends meet. When a man or woman is pushed to the extreme by socio-economic issues, the idea of dying with both kidneys intact is less appealing than losing one to harvesters and living comfortably for a few more years and even paying school fees for his or her children.

e) Robbery of accident victims – Some organ harvesters and smugglers target accident victims. They visit the accident scene and appear to help the victims when what they are looking for is actually a particular organ that will sell for millions out there.

f) Kidnapping – Some organ harvesters kidnap their victims, mainly women and children and surgically removing the vital organs and leaving them for dead. They target women and children during times of war and may also kidnap the wounded for the purposes of organ harvesting.

Should you be scared of organ smugglers?

Not if you are a healthy adult that does not drink. If you drink and sometimes pass out, its time you stopped drinking alone. Always have company when in the pub and if you take a longer time in the washrooms, its better for your drunken colleague to check on you. Children should always be accompanied by adults to or from school and never should they be left home alone.

Check with your local doctor for tests to verify that all is well if you have been having problems lately but I think your heart and brain and eyes are still intact and that is why you are reading this.

Did you like it? Check the following:

Why chicken brained fellows get all the women while intellectuals lose out

Male pregnancy: Time for your man to carry that child

It is a well-known phenomenon in organ donation patients to feel strange influences, cravings, and other impulses surfacing after the person has received a new organ from an unknown recipient.

Although not scientifically proven, these people often insist that the new organ they have received comes with ‘baggage’.

Kidneys and Cravings

James Baker of San Diego experienced renal failure and it was determined that he should get a new kidney. Being a fairly routine operation, James came out of it with a new kidney and a new life.

However, James experienced very strange and unexplainable cravings after the surgery, for foods like pizza, strawberry ice cream, licorice whips, and Captain Crunch cereal. There were days says James, when he could eat nothing else except those foods.

After researching into his organ donator, James discovered the reason for his quirky cravings. His kidney had been the kidney of a 12-year-old Colorado boy who died in a freak accident.

The boy, upon further research, which James undertook with the young boy’s family, revealed that indeed, little Bradley had been crazy about pizza, his favorite ice cream was strawberry, he always had licorice whips in his back pocket, and he would only eat Captain Crunch cereal for breakfast.

James Baker says that little Bradley seems to be living through him, and James says that is fine with him. In fact, he has come to enjoy Captain Crunch cereal and he is never out of liquorice whips.

Organ Transplant Overview

Some sixty years ago, scientists were on the edge of an exciting scientific breakthrough. In the preceding decades, researchers were achieving a degree of success transplanting organs in lab animals, and there had also been a few not so successful attempts at human organ transplants. A number ofstudies revealed that human organ transplanting was feasible, and that it would be very beneficial to many thousands of patients, but doctors had been unable to make it work.

In the 1950s success was finally achieved when several kidney transplants soon began to give brand new life to needy patients. In the subsequent decades, doctors learned how to transplant a number of organs successfully, and they radically improved recovery rates. Nowadays, the majority of organ transplants are safe, routine procedures, and transplantation is now considered to be the optimal treatment option for thousands of ailing persons every year.

Doctors now however are confronted with a new obstacle: demand for transplants has grown far beyond the supply of donated organs. To put it simply there aren’t enough available organ donors, so patients must wait weeks and months, and even years, for their organs to become available.

Screening listing and matching organs

Organ transplants are one possibilitywhen a particular organ is starting to fail. Some of the conditions which might be successfully treated with organ transplants are: Kidney failure, heart disease, lung disease and cirrhosis of the liver. In the cases dealing with the heart, the lungs and other exceedingly sensitive organs, a transplant is usually the choice of last resort. However, if all other possibilities have been looked into then transplantation is a good, viable option.

A living donor can provide a liver or a kidney. Often a patient will find a family member who can provide these organs if needed. If the donor is a match, they can go on with the surgery procedure..

Advertising Space – After your hub is published advertisements may be placed in this space. Please note, it can take some time after you publish for the ads to match the content of your hub. Liver Transplant

Mild-mannered 55 year old Edith Harwood of Paris New York, needed a new liver and found a distant relative that she didn’t, previous to her operation, know existed, and who elected to provide her with the organ.

Soon Edith began to imagine impulses that were very frightening and totally unlike her. She became angry with people easily, and several times stopped herself in the middle of raising a knife above her head with the intention of stabbing someone simply because they disagreed with her political views.

Upon advice from her friends she sought out psychological counseling. Her doctor, having been informed of her recent surgery tried a hunch and located her donor’s identity.

As it turns out the relative was her father’s stepbrother, who had never been known to the family until recently had been because he had spent most of his life at Riker’s Island for murder.

Edith Harwell was able to have organ removed and replaced with another, more law-abiding family member and she has been well and happy and quite lacking in aggressive behaviour ever since.

Corneas Give Ghost-Sighting Talents?

One of the most bizarre cases of organ donation and it’s affect on the donee, is that of Tom Jerit of Beaupre in Quebec, who, since his new corneas were inserted, has been seeing what can only be discribed as supernatural and extraordinary phenomena.

Mr. Jerit, who makes a living carving small wooden figures which he sells at his Beaupre roadside stand in the summer to tourists who visit the nearby St. Anne de Beaupre shrine, says that he has seen what he calls ‘light orbs’ that hover around the cemetery as well as ghostly, transparent persons dressed in clothing from at least 200 years ago.

“I have never seen such things before my corneas were given me by the doctor” says Tom, “but now it’s as if I have special ability to see what others don’t.

Upon further investigation by the local doctor, who Tom Jerit asked for advice, it turns out that his cornea were donated by a woman who, before her death, was reputed to have psychic abilities and a special talent in extrasensory sightings.

Was it this woman’s eyes, perhaps genetically predisposed to seeing ghosts, that are the cause of Tom’s new paranormal perceptions? Who can say…but if so, then maybe the persons who claim to see things others don’t, are not being dishonest and lying–maybe they have true biological reasons resident in their bodies (perhaps left-over from our Neolithic ancestors)  that  allow for such unusual endowments.

organ donation on Youtube

• The Ricky Gervais Show – Organ donation and the after-life

  Author: pdbarrows Keywords: Added: May 27, 2010 – 15 hours ago

• You Want a Piece of Me? Organ Transplantation Stories from the Real World

  Author: USCAnnenberg Keywords: Added: May 27, 2010 – 17 hours ago

• They Want To Rip Out My Organs