Dr Melanie: Should you donate your organs?
An organ donation can save or transform someone’s life. But is it something you should ever consider?
More people are receiving transplants than ever before, but only three-fifths of us have signed up to be organ donors and some families override their loved ones’ wishes. There are more than 6,400 people on the UK waiting list, but many die before they can get a transplant – which takes an average of three to five years. So for many people, a living transplant may be their best option, especially as statistically it’s more likely to be successful.
Who can be a living donor?
Our immune systems are programmed to reject ‘alien’ tissues, but near-matches can succeed with the help of immunosuppressant drugs. Close relatives are more likely to share blood groups and tissue types, but non-relatives may be a match too. We particularly need more black and Asian donors in the UK.
It’s also possible to volunteer as a ‘non-directed altruistic donor’ for someone you don’t even know. Sometimes two or more pairs of donors/ recipients can get a better match by swapping donors; there are even altruistic donor ‘chains’ involving several people.
What can we donate?
More than 3,000 kidney transplants a year are carried out in the UK, with more than 1,100 coming from living donors. There’s a 96% success rate, transforming the lives of people with end-stage kidney failure who are usually undergoing dialysis (blood-cleansing) several times a week.
Living liver transplants have been possible for over 20 years and are used to treat end-stage liver disease (for example, cirrhosis), liver cancer and children with metabolic diseases that affect the liver. Only part of the donor’s liver is needed, and 900 transplants are carried out each year, but a fifth of the 600 people waiting will die or become unsuitable for surgery while they wait.
You can donate living bone from the discarded ‘ball’ of your thighbone if you’re having a hip replacement; bone grafts can be used to repair complex fractures, diseased bones and in dentistry.
If you have a Caesarean section you can donate
amniotic membrane from the placenta, for use as a graft or dressing in reconstructive surgery (particularly eyes). Umbilical cord blood can also be donated; it contains stem cells used in leukaemia treatment.
What’s involved?
You can usually be a living donor, even in old age, provided you’re over 18 (16 in Scotland), are healthy, and can ‘spare’ a kidney or other tissue. You’ll be fully assessed by a medical team and may need to see counsellors, psychologists or social workers, depending on the actual case; you’ll be allocated a Living Donor Coordinator to guide you through the process. This includes a wide range of blood tests to check your own organs, and that you’re not carrying viruses such as hepatitis. Finally, you’ll be asked to see an Independent Assessor from the Human Tissue Authority, to check that you fully understand the process, the small but possible risks and are a willing volunteer.