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

I’m talking about internal organs of the human body. Most states have a plan that allows you to donate organs after death. Usually it’s filled out on your driver’s license. You also have the option of having your wishes expressed in your living will.

By now, if you follow me, you know I ask questions. The question I ask now is how many people that are willing to donate their organs actually take the time to arrange this?

An average of 18 people a day die waiting for an organ transplant About 72 percent of people say they want to donate an organ, but the number of people signed up is much lower. 23 percent fear they wouldn’t qualify due to existing health problems. 50 percent of those willing to donate fear their medical treatment would be compromised in an effort to get their organs. 44 percent believe there is a black market for organs.

You would figure that if 72 percent of the population was willing to donate that the list of 100,000 people waiting for organs would be shorter. The problem is that people are busy living their lives and not thinking about the end. Imagine alot of you reading this probably don’t have wills drawn up. Do you even have a living will? We, as a group, never think of these things until it happens to someone else. Even then it never moves past the thought process.

My solution to this problem isn’t that complicated.Instead of having people opt in to organ donations, why not have them opt out? Every person agrees to donate organs upton death. If you choose not to, then you check the box on your driver’s license or register with the Do Not Donate List. It’s alot like the Do Not Call list for telemarketers. You’re not on the list, your organs can be used to benefit another life. The choice would still be up to the individual.

Of course this idea makes way to much sense for any politician to pick up and run with. There isn’t enough public demand. So, the present system will stay in effect. Therefore, I’m encouraging all to take sometime out of you busy lives and make the necessary plans to donate your organs. We have the know how, but the main pieces are missing. If 72 percent consider doing this, then 72 percent should stop considering and take action.

What they don’t know is that the most important way of ‘registering’ to become an organ donor is to talk about it with ones friends and family. In that small way, an individual would already have registered his or her wishes to people whom he knows will carry out what he wants if and when the individual will pass away. It is most advisable as well that a person who has decided to donate his organs when he dies, is to discuss this decision with the person who will have the final say. For example if you were single and you have decided to donate your organs when the time comes, you would communicate your decision to your parents. Or, if you were a husband who has come to such a decision as well, you would tell your wife.

Yes, there are forms to fill out and an organ donor card that can be issued to a person once a decision like this has been made but as was stated earlier, a persons’ talking this kind of choice over with family and friends already ensures that his or her wishes be carried. The forms are merely for formality and also for certain situations where in other people need to know as well. A common example of this is when an individual meets an accident and dies as a result and there is no one available to let the medical people know of the said individuals wishes and by the time the family is able to communicate with the medical people, it is already to late for the organs to be harvested.

In principle, contrary to most peoples’ common notion those only organs such as the heart, liver, kidneys and eyes are what they can donate and can be transplanted. This notion is actually not entirely true as facts said that currently, transplanted human tissues include bone, corneas, skin, heart valves, veins, cartilage and other connective tissues. Tissues such as these can be used to treat patients suffering from congenital defects, blindness, visual impairment, trauma, burns, dental defects, arthritis, cancer, vascular and heart disease. In addition, many heart valves are used to treat children with congenital defects of their own heart valves.

The medical world categorizes organ donors into two types. The first type is what they call the living-related donor, the second the cadaver donor. The living-related donor is just what the title states, this would be a person who is related to the patient and is willing to donate one of his or her organs. Let us stress that the act of organ donation is without any danger to the donor’s life and will not cause any alteration to the donors physical activities. Now for a living-related organ donation, not all organs cited above can be donated. The only organs that can be donated by a living-related donor will be one kidney, bone marrow, and a part of the liver. Obviously a living related donor cannot donate his corneas nor his heart because that goes against the rule that organ donation should not cause any danger to the donor’s life and should not cause any alteration to his physical activities.

The cadaver donor has suffered injury by trauma or disease to the brain, destroying brain functions. Before an individual can become a cadaver donor, he or she has to be certified as brain dead. For some countries, here in the Philippines, it would take the certification of a neurologist or neurosurgeon supported by imaging studies like X-rays, CT scans, MRI’s and ECG’s. If the donor has been tagged as brain dead, organs that can be harvested which include kidneys, the liver, bone marrow, long bones, corneas, pancreas, lungs and the heart are then collected with after a signed consent of the nearest-of-kin, or if declared in the donors last will and testament. Some countries though, like Singapore, Spain and Denmark, their system decrees that that unless the donor has previously indicated his refusal to donate, his organs can be harvested.

Filipinos are known for their deep family ties and religious devotion, not to mention for their superstitious and traditional beliefs. These and misinformation about organ donation are the biggest reasons why cadaver harvests are grimly low. Some of the seriously damaging myths borne from misinformation are that potential donors believe that their bodies will be mutilated when the organs are harvested. The fact of the matter is donated organs are surgically removed in a routine operation similar to appendix removal making normal funeral arrangements possible. Of course when a donor decides to donate, let it also be known that a declaration of this intent doesn’t mean that all possible organs will be harvested, a donor has the right to specify which particular organ to donate. It is also in this country where you will here someone say “I can’t donate blood, my religion forbids it.” What more if one would suggest to this type of person about donating a body organ?

Often times though, it isn’t the religion but the person itself who thinks it is forbidden. In the Philippines, it is a fact that all organized religions support donation, which is characteristic of a generous act – an individual’s choice. Questions about whether or not one is of the right age to become an organ donor is apparently being asked, the answer is, someone as young as a newborn can be an organ donor. Age limits for organ donation no longer exists, however, the general age limit for donors donating tissue is seventy.

There also are questions leaning on the paranoid where a potential donor thinks that should he be in an accident or other life threatening situation and the medical respondents know that he wants to be a donor, the doctors will no try to save his life. This is absolutely untrue. The medical team treating any type of patients’ goal is to use all life saving efforts to save the patient. The transplant team, which is separate from the medical team treating a patient, is not notified until a patient has been certified as brain dead. And that is not until the patients’ family has consented to donation.

As new as organ donation may seem, or as foreign, to the Filipino culture, what everyone should bear in mind is that organ donation is equivalent to saving lives. Aside from that transplant can also be ‘life-enhancing’. When one loses his or her eyesight we can only imagine the devastation that person goes through. Giving the gift of sight to someone such as this person can mean another shot at life, a rebirth that can only be a dream if we don’t become more open to the idea of organ donation.

Here’s a quote from the ‘The Eye Bank Foundation of the Philippines’ website:
“the scene was a sad and all
too common one, a person gone blind, usually, young and
poor…
…in need of a corneal
transplant to restore his sight;
a doctor technically skilled to
do so but helpless
nonetheless…
simply because of the utter
lack of precious cornea
tissues”

Is it not worth it to give someone else a chance if you yourself can call it a good life and are ready to move on from this earth?
The Organ Donor Card Project was conceived by an organization called the ‘Human Organ Preservation Effort’ other wise called H.O.P.E. to help relatives make the decision to donate. It is said to be not the equivalent of a legal consent document as of the prevent time however it can help relatives of the donor realize that their kin has consented before hand and that perhaps his wishes be respected.

A properly filled up Organ Donor Card indicates a person’s willingness to help someone even after his passing. The card serves as a personal consent form for organ donation and indicates to both medical personnel and relatives (if it hasn’t been discussed with them yet) that this individual is willing to donate his or her organs for transplant. Le it be reiterated that the presence of such a card on an individual does not mean that aggressive life-saving measures will not be performed in the event of an emergency.

A fact to note, the Philippines having a population of approximately 76.4 million people, according to the 2000 Census of Population and Housing, has only four Transplant Coordinators for the entire country. From the listing of H.O.P.E’s website* they are:
Helen F. Alonzo, RN – Supervisor
Maria Aurora A. Yusi, RN
Marilou L. Garcia
Maria Paz C. Jose – Secretary
*I suggest you visit the H.O.P.E website as well for first hand information at his link:
Another website which also acted as my reference and worthy of visiting for more information on being an eye donor is from this link.

Below is what the organ donor card and eye donor card look like.

I encourage everyone from the mildly curious to the one’s who really want know to ask and find out more, after all no one can give you pressure about matters such as this and only you can truly have the power to decide whether or not you would like to donate your organs.