Health
Living Organ Donation: A True Gift of Life for Kidney Patients
By
Feb 4, 2009, 21:43

My manager just participated in a living organ donation. He is doing well after his organ donation and so is his wife, the recipient of his kidney.

(NC)-National Organ Donor Week (April 19-25, 2009) encourages Canadians to sign their health insurance cards to raise awareness of the pronounced lack of available organs for transplantation. This year, 4,200 Canadians remain on a waiting list for an organ transplant - a surgical procedure that's vital to their survival. In 2007, 193 patients died while on a transplant waiting list.

"For several years, more than 75% of people whose names are on waiting lists are in need of a new kidney. This need outweighs the availability of organs which is why living donation is often vital to many patients awaiting a kidney transplant," explained Claude Proulx, Organ Donation Resource Nurse at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital in Montreal. "Most individuals are born with two kidneys and because one kidney can adequately perform the necessary functions of both, donors can live a normal life after surgery without compromising their health and well-being," she added.

In addition to its altruism, living organ donation has a number of reported psychological benefits with many living donors stating the donation of an organ to be the most important humanitarian contribution of their lives.

Resources for donors and recipients

St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto has experienced a spectacular growth in its Living Donor Renal Transplant Program. Since its launch in 1996, the program has recorded a 242% increase in living donation procedures. With many of its transplant-related activities centred on living donation, the hospital now runs Canada's largest living donor kidney program.

"There are numerous benefits to receiving an organ through living organ donation," stated Galo Meliton, Renal Transplant Nurse Coordinator at the St. Michael's Hospital transplant clinic. "Receiving a kidney from a living donor results in a significantly reduced "waiting" time for the recipient, who might also be able to avoid the toll of dialysis treatments. When retrieved from a living donor, the kidney is transplanted immediately, thus potentially increasing the chance that it will begin functioning right away", he continued.

In order to inform patients awaiting a kidney transplant and their loved ones about living organ donations, St. Michael's Hospital is one of 13 Canadian hospital centres offering access to Transplant Companions workshops. Transplant Companions is a comprehensive program, offered free of charge, set up through an educational grant from Astellas Pharma Canada, Inc.

The program, which is based on a small group learning model, revolves around interactive workshops led by both a health care professional specializing in transplantation and a post-transplant kidney patient. This two-pronged approach - education and support - was designed specifically for patients awaiting a kidney transplant. The Transplant Companions program offers a component on living donation and provides patients awaiting a kidney transplant, as well as potential organ donors, with information. Participants can register online at www.transplantcompanions.ca or by calling 1 866 446-3030.

Statistics

. 548 organs used in transplant procedures in Canada in 2007 were provided by living donors

. 2,252 organ transplants were carried out in Canada in 2007, of which 1,243 were kidney transplants

. A 90-95% one-year success rate for kidney transplants involving living donors was recorded; on average, these transplanted organs continued to function for 15 to 20 years - almost double the time achieved with organs from deceased donors

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