To Donate or Not To Donate

[Tsubakai]

If an ex-smokers lungs function well then they will be fine for donation. Obviously they are assessed very carefully before being used - the transplant teams are very careful to screen donated organs to make sure they are going to work in the recipient.

---------- Post added 09-Jan-11 at 06:30 PM ----------

the problm with donations are you have no say in were or how they are used, my mate is in medical school and the things he describes to me that alot of people do with the tings is horrible.

yes give orgns to people who deserve them, ie ppl who have a sickness that is not brought on by them selves like smoking or exesive drinking ( i think its called sorosues). but thats the hard bit you have no say.

Maybe you should stick to commenting on things that you actually know about rather than spreading misinformation. Your mate in medical school would know relatively little about organ donation medicine so I wouldn't be relying on his comments.

 

[Trouble]

yes the surgeons and doctors examine the lungs/organs very carefully before transplantation happens. there are several different check-points which happen before the actual operation takes place. but even the smallest infections/diseased lungs/organs can get through. And because our bodies after transplant are so imuno-suppressed, sometimes the human body cannot fight off those infections, and that's why we wish for healthy lungs/organs, if possible.
but I do understand your point of view, it's pretty much only the lungs that are effected from smoking. I am happy that people are very willing to donate, it's a difference to the people you talk to in the world, when they say they cannot/will not donate because of 'religious' reasons, or they don't want to pull their body apart after death, it always confuses me. What God would frown apon accepting someone in the afterlife just because their body isn't intact and they've helped someone else live a longer life..?!?

Thank you for your comments everyone, I really appriciate it. again, I don't want to turn this into an arguement . Sorry if I say anything anyone doesn't agree with.

 

[waruikazi]

It is a pretty big gift to be given and to be totally honest the old saying 'beggers can't be choosers' is really appropriate in this scenario. Be given something sub-par or be given nothing at all, what would you choose?

If you read these articles, then maybe you will understand why a young girl who has been sick her whole life with a lung condition would like to receive a healthy pair of lungs.

Soldier dies after receiving smoker's lungs in transplant - CNN.com

'Brutal reality' of sick transplant patients given the lungs of smokers, warns top surgeon | Mail Online

Of course, to limit organ donation to only those who have lived perfectly healthy lifestyles would significantly reduce the number of viable organs available and is thus not possible, I can see why someone who is so sick that they need someone else's organ would like a healthy one.

 

[emma_jane]

Waruikazi, I completely agree with you. It's is a choice of life and death. I also value how big a gift it is to give someone life, not only from the donator, but from the family too at a time of grieving. I just think it's sad that there are so few organ donors that we have to resort to accepting organs not only from smokers and alcohol abusers, but also from those with cancer.

Lifesaving change for transplant checklist | The Daily Telegraph

 

[Bradchip]

I actually thought that ticking the organ donation thing for my license was enough...I didn't know it was something that actually had to be registered.

Gotta rectify this right away. Thanks for the link Shellfisch

 

[Defective]

because i'm an epileptic and all my meds i take CAN affect my body i chose not to but i did choose to be a brain donar. this includes taking my blood, spinal fluid and brain (first 2 are options) when i die, whether it's used as a control or they actually find something to explain why epilepsy has occurred in me but none of my other siblings or family members or whether it can help find a cure to Parkinsons, Huntingtons, Motor Neurons, and any other brain disorder.

 

[Australis]

Always hating on the smokers, what about the fatties.

 

[moosenoose]

I'm pretty sure they'd scrap off the tar before the transplant! People seem to worry needlessly

 

[REPTILIAN-KMAN]

I Dont think they want my Organs but i have ticked the boxes anyway !!!Years of binge drinking in my teens and partying hard and the toxins in my body from nites out mine a toxic battleflied !!!!

 

[Chris1]

I actually thought that ticking the organ donation thing for my license was enough...I didn't know it was something that actually had to be registered.

Gotta rectify this right away. Thanks for the link Shellfisch

same here, theyre really not doing themselves any favours if people that have ticked the box on their license think theyre donors when theyre really not.
i thought i'd been a donor for the past 20 or so years, i'll have to follow the donor link,....

 

[shellfisch]

i thought i'd been a donor for the past 20 or so years, i'll have to follow the donor link,....

Most important is to tell your family of your wishes.
Yes, have it noted on your Drivers Licence, and register your intent, but also, TELL YOUR FAMILY.

Your immediate family are the ones who will be asked (when they are grieving) for permission, and unless things have changed, if they refuse to give that permission, your organs will not be used.

The link again -

http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/...aodr/index.jsp