Organ Donation

Organ Donation

Organ donation is the harvest of an organ or tissue from one individual to be transplanted into another. Organ donation can be done after brain death, after cardiac death or while the donor is alive for non-essential organs.

Fast Facts

Organs that can be donated: heart, kidney, liver, lungs, pancreas, small intestine, eyes, skin, bones, veins and tendons
95,000 US patients waiting for transplant¹
4,000 new transplant patients each month¹
17 patients die each day waiting for a donor¹

History

There is an ancient Chinese story, dating back to the 4th century BC, describing a surgeon who switched the hearts of two soldiers. The first documented donation occurred in 1818 in which a man donated blood to his wife after she lost blood during childbirth. This blood donation was arranged by obstetrician, James Blundell. The first successful bone donation was in 1878. The bone as harvested from a dead donor. The first documentation of a skin graft was in 1881.²

Disclaimer

The content in this page is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please contact your doctor for information regarding organ donation.

Related Pages on Mahalo

Cirrhosis | Kidney Disease | Face Transplant | Surgery | Abigail Taylor | Blood

Categories

Health | Surgery

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The Mahalo Top 7

Organ Donation News

ABC News: Doctor Proposes Sales of Kidneys (March 31, 2007)
Associated Press: 4 Get AIDS Virus From Organ Donor (Nov. 13, 2007)
Canada.com: Hospital rejects kidney from 'cult' donor (2007)
BBC News: China bans transplant organ sales (2006)
The Independent: Japan's rich buy organs from executed Chinese prisoners (2006)
The Seattle Times: 6-member organ-transplant team killed in plane crash (2007)
Time: Dutch TV's Kidney-Shaped Hoax (2007)

Organ Donation Basics and Facts

OrganDonor.gov: Donation basics
Wikipedia: Organ donation
Donate Life America: Understanding Donation: Learn the facts
MayoClinic.com: Organ donation: Don't let myths stand in your way
The Gift of a Lifetime: Understanding Donation
National Kidney Foundation: 25 Facts About Organ Donation and Transplantation
New York Organ Donor Network: Transplantation - Which Organs Can Be Transplanted?

Organ Donation Organizations

Network of organ donation organizations: Donate Life America
National donation and transplant organization: United Network for Organ Sharing
Organ donation awareness: Miracles For Life
Donor education: Living Bank

Organ Donation and Religion

OrganDonor.gov: Religious views on donation
The Gift of a Lifetime: Religion and Organ Donation
American Red Cross: Tissue Donation: Statements from Religions

Organ Donation Clinical Studies and Research

BMJ: Topics : Organ Donation
PubMed Central: Organ Donation search
Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA): Organ Donation Search Result

Organ Donation Message Boards and Blogs

Living Donors Online!: Message Board
TransplantBuddies.org: Forums
Promoting living organ donation: Organomics Blog
Live organ donor blog: Chopped Liver
Donor recipient blog: Jaundice Jill's space
Transplant recipient blog: Constantly Adjusting - Life After An Organ Transplant
Blog of mother of a child needing transplant: The Wait and the Wonder
Kidney transplant recipient: My Kidney Blog
Liver recipient's blog: Got Liver?

Organ Donation Controversy

lifeissues.net: Non-Heart-Beating Organ Donation
BBC News: Should alcoholics get liver transplants? (2003)
Reason Magazine: The Case for Selling Human Organs (2001)
National Geographic News: Organ Shortage Fuels Illicit Trade in Human Parts (2004)
American Chronicle: Human Organs for Sale? (2005)
Time: The New Face of Transplant Surgery (2005)

Organ Donation Abuse

American University: Illegal Human Organ Trade from Executed Prisoners in China
Reason Magazine: Is Organ Bootlegging Inevitable? (2003)