For all those naysayers out there (if there are any)
Read this.
A huge study concludes that donating a kidney is a safe procedure for the donors. The article does not go into a lot of detail (lame), but the study was huge (80,000+ people) and if it actually studies who it claims to study, it studied my aunt's stats (which are great), as well.
The article notes that the procedure is slightly less safe for donors who have hypertension, so it probably would be a good idea for those hypertensive patients looking to donate to make sure their condition is under strict control before going under the knife.
BAM! We did it! We proved what we all long hoped (and intuitively knew) - living donor kidney transplants are safer for the transplant patient and safe for the donor.
Long live kidney donors!
UPDATE! Here is a more thorough article from Scientific American on the same study, with links to the doctor and center where it was carried out.
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Have you actually read the study in question? If you had, you'd know:
ReplyDelete1. The study only addresses living donor death within 90 days of surgery. It says NOTHING about the long-term ramifications of being a living donor.
2. The study only deals with living donors since 1994 when living donors have been used for over 50 years. Big gap.
3. Some living donors are 'foreign nationals'; once they are discharged, they return to their country of origin. We have no data on them.
4. In a November 2008 ACOT meeting, Dr. Cooper of UNOS reported that in 2006, 20% of follow-up forms were never completed. Again, no data.
5. The study fails to address the myriad surgical complications living donors assume: hernia, intestinal blockage, testicular swelling, nerve damage, pancreatitis, bleeding, etc.
6. The study also fails to analyze the cause of these living donor deaths. Is it acceptable for living donors to die if the deaths were the result of negligence or otherwise preventable?
7. The study purposely doesn't examine the long-term risks of living kidney donation: increased risk of hypertension, cardiovascular disease and kidney failure.
Living donors may become uninsurable, incur financial costs (some recipients' insurance refuses to pay for any complications after a short time), and some suffer from depression, anxiety, anger and PTSD. Worse, not a single transplant center offers any aftercare or support services.
Also refer to the discussion on http://www.livingdonorsonline.com/ forum, topic #6942.
First of all, thank you for providing that information. I think my readers will really appreciate it. I would appreciate it if you would not be so aggressive on a humor blog, but that's ok. That's how the internet is sometimes.
ReplyDeleteMy only note is that your last comment (#7) is absolutely untrue. My transplant clinic does offer such services. If my aunt needed them, she could find them there. Also, she has done a number of follow-ups over the past year to make sure she is still as healthy as before (spoiler alert - she is!).
The only thing I can totally agree on (since neither you nor the article I read actually provided a link to the study in question, which I would really like to read) is that it is total BS that anyone can be dropped from their insurance for any reason, even doing something so selfless and gracious as donating a kidney. It is wrong and it is one of the many reasons why we need health care reform in this country.
Also, how did you come upon my blog in the first place? I'm just wondering because I always figured the people who read this were my family and friends, and obviously I don't actually know you. (the internet is a funny place that way)
Anyway, I hope you keep reading in the future, because this is a humor blog, not really a science blog. I just post interesting articles when I find them.
Wowzah! What could possibly be Christy's motivation for such a vitriolic rant against living organ donation? i know at least half a dozen people who have been either the recipients of a living donor kidney or the actual donor, and there have been no complications on either side whether they be physical or with insurance...and, this is over the course of more than 25 years. Two people i know have had to have their first kidney transplant replaced after 20+ years, and again, the kidneys came from living donors.
ReplyDeleteChristy must have had a negative personal experience that has affected her position, as without living organ donation, we would all be much worse off.
Keep writing, Artful Stew! Obviously, we're reading!!