Waiting for an Organ Transplant

Currently more than 118,617 men, women, and children are waiting for a transplant. With this high demand of organ transplants there is a need of supply. According to the OPTN Annual report of 2008, the median national waiting time for a heart transplant is 113 days, 141 days for lungs, 361 days for livers, 1219 days for kidneys, 260 days for pancreas, 159 days for any part of the intestine. With this world of diseases and conditions, we are in desperate desideratum of organs. Organ transplants followed by blood into a donating organ transfusions, are ways medical procedures are helping better the lives of the patients.

Organ transplantation is process of surgically transferring a patient with end-stage organ failure with a healthy compliant organ. This can be done when a patient’s organ has ceased working or when the organ does not meet its opportune function. In the article Organ Transplantation: The Process, the author claims that end-stage organ failure can be the product of cardiomyopathy, cirrhosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary heart disease, cystic fibrosis, hepatitis, diabetes, hypertension, idiopathic pulmonary disease, and short gut syndrome.. Multiple organs can be transplanted at one time.

In order for a patient to get a transplant, the patient as well as the donor, they have to go through series tests. Both living and nonliving people can be donors. There is a difference though because a living donor can only donate certain organs enable for the donor to sustain life. A living donor can donate a kidney, portions of the liver, portions of the lung, portions of the pancreas, portions of the intestines, and they can even blood. A dead donor can donate any organ since they are no longer going t...

... middle of paper ...

... to survival but to improve a person’s quality of life. Organs that can be replaced by artificial ones vary from the ears , ovaries , and even including the heart and brain. Cochlear implants are used to help people with hearing aid improve their ability to hear and distinguish sound. This transplants have successfully worked with 200,000 people across the world, BMC Central claims. An artificial organ can replace the non functioning organ temporarily while the patient is waiting for a real organ to be ready. Artificial organs are becoming more popular due to the low price when compared to the real organs.

They list for patients waiting for an organ transplant increases greatly each hour. Thousands of people die waiting for a transplantation. Doctors are trying to figure out others way like artificial organs that are faster and could save hundreds of people.