why should you donate your organs

by Matilde McKenzie 4 min read

By donating organs and tissues after you die, you can save up to eight lives and improve as many as 75. The need for donated tissues and organs in the U.S. is great. More than 100,000 people are waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant.

Full Answer

Why is donating your organs important?

Committing to be an organ donor is a generous decision that can save the lives of up to eight individuals, and even more if a donor can give corneas and tissue. Almost anyone, regardless of age, race or gender, can become an organ and tissue donor, and there are no costs to the person's family or estate.

What are the benefits of organ transplants?

Some benefits may include:avoiding medical procedures such as dialysis.living a longer life.living a healthier or less painful life.gaining an improved quality of life, such as when a cornea transplant restores a person's sight.correcting congenital disabilities that endanger a person's life.More items...

What are the pros and cons of organ donation?

Let's have a look at many merits and demerits of organ donation:Organ Donation Pros. Gifting Life. Multiple Recipients. Personal Contentment. No Age Limitations. Donation Expenses on Receiver. Prospective Scientific Research. ... Organ Donation Cons. Decreased Donors Availability. Prolong Grievances. Organ Rejection. Pain. Infection.

Why should you donate your organs after death?

By donating organs and tissues after you die, you can save up to eight lives and improve as many as 75. The need for donated tissues and organs in the U.S. is great. More than 100,000 people are waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant.

What are the two main risks for transplant patients?

Reaction to the anesthetic (medicine that makes you sleep during surgery) Injury to other organs during surgery.

How does organ donation help grieving families?

There's evidence that organ donation can help surviving family members make sense of their loss. Following a donation, we remain in contact with the organ donors' family members and provide continued support for a minimum of two years following their loved one's gift.

What are the 4 types of transplantation?

Types of transplantAutograft.Allograft and allotransplantation.Xenograft and xenotransplantation.Domino transplants.ABO-incompatible transplants.Transplantation in obese individuals.

Why is organ donation important essay?

Most noteworthy, a single donor can save up to eight lives. Organ donation can also improve the quality of life of many people. An eye transplant could mean the ability to see again for a blind person. Similarly, donating organs could mean removing the depression and pain of others.

How many lives can a deceased donor save?

According to the American transplant foundation, “One deceased donor can save up to eight lives through organ donation and can save and enhance more than 100 lives through the lifesaving and healing gift of tissue donation” (“Facts and Myths”).

Who can be on the waiting list for organ donation?

But if I want you to remember anything, it is that the person on that waiting list could not only be you but it can be your son, your brother or sister, your mom, your aunt, or your best friend.

Is it easy to become an organ donor?

As you can tell tell the steps to become and organ donor are fairly easy. But not only that, the decision of becoming an organ donor has a great impact on more than just one recipient and on the lives of the ones around them.

What age can you donate organs?

6) Any age is the right age. There are no age limits to organ donation, even people in their 90s have donated organs. Even if you’re under age 18, your parents can give their consent knowing that it’s what you wanted.

What religions support organ donation?

Organ donation is consistent with the beliefs of all major religions. With the exceptions of Shinto, some branches of Judaism and some Protestant faiths, all major religions support the saving of lives via organ donation.

How many people die waiting for an organ transplant?

Statistically, 18 people will die each day waiting for an organ.

Can you have organs after you die?

You won’t be need ing your organs after you pass away, but you can save someone else’s life! In a way, you will live on even after death, and the person who’ll receive the gift of life will be infinitely grateful to you and your family.

Is it free to donate organs?

3) It’s FREE to register and donate your organs. It is absolutely free to donate your organs and you and your family will not have to pay any costs related to the donation.

Why is organ donation important?

The grief of families is usually overwhelming if a person dies at a young age. For these families , organ donation can be a great move to heal from the sudden death of loved ones. One can have great comfort when realizing how a small organ will benefit another person's life and his family.

What are the pros and cons of donating organs?

Here are some pros of donating organs: 1. Life Saver. Most candidates for organ donation are managed on costly and painful treatments. The conventional organ donation costs a fortune that can put a family through misery and pain. Donors aren't aware of the importance of their organ, but their viscera can save a person's life by giving him ...

What are the pros and cons of organ donation?

Organ donation pros and cons are almost balanced and there are some cons as well: 1. Possible Mid and Post Surgery Complications. There are chances of complication during and after the surgery to extract organs. Complications could be too much bleeding, blood clotting or infection in the surgery area.

What is consolation when you donate organs?

A sense of consolation can also be felt if you donate organs to younger people who are struggling for life and needs help desperately when you die in old age. 3. Medical Research Opportunities. If one isn't in favor of donating organs to complete strangers, then he or she can also donate the organs to science.

Why don't donors choose the recipients of their organs?

In most cases, donors don't choose the recipients of their organs, which is one of the disadvantages of organ donation because the religious belief of recipient might differ from the donor or may have different political views. This may not make the donor pleased with his decision.

How can a donor save a life?

Donors aren't aware of the importance of their organ, but their viscera can save a person's life by giving him or her another chance to live normally. And by donating organs, the donor does not just save a life but also ease the financial burden of the patient's family. 2. Offer Consolation.

Why do medical students need cadavers?

Medical students require cadavers to perform their procedures in real but less risky environment before becoming perfect doctors. Thus, the organ donation becomes a continuous gift to society and scientific research. Watch this video-A life stories of organ receiver to learn how organ donation saves people’s life. YouTube.

Why is it important to consider becoming an organ donor?

It's especially important to consider becoming an organ donor if you belong to an ethnic minority. Minorities including African Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, and Hispanics are more likely than whites to have certain chronic conditions that affect the kidneys, heart, lung, pancreas and liver.

How to become an organ donor?

Becoming an organ donor is easy. You can indicate that you want to be a donor in the following ways: 1 Register with your state's donor registry. Most states have registries. Check the list at organdonor.gov. 2 Designate your choice on your driver's license. Do this when you obtain or renew your license. 3 Tell your family. Make sure your family knows your wishes regarding donation.

What religions are involved in organ donation?

These religions include Roman Catholicism, Islam, most branches of Judaism and most Protestant faiths. If you're unsure of or uncomfortable with your faith's position on organ donation, ask a member of your clergy.

What happens if you decide to become a living donor?

If you decide to become a living donor, you will undergo extensive questioning to ensure that you are aware of the risks and that your decision to donate isn't based on financial gain. You will also undergo testing to determine if your kidneys are in good shape and whether you can live a healthy life with just one kidney.

What does it mean when you go to the hospital?

Fact: When you go to the hospital for treatment, doctors focus on saving your life — not somebody else's. You'll be seen by a doctor whose expertise most closely matches your particular condition and who can give you the best care possible.

Can you donate organs to an open casket funeral?

Fact: Organ and tissue donation doesn't interfere with having an open-casket funeral. The donor's body is clothed for burial and treated with care and respect, so there are no visible signs of organ or tissue donation.

Do you have to tell your family you want to donate?

It's also very important to tell your family that you want to be a donor. Hospitals seek consent from the next of kin before removing organs, although this is not required if you're registered with your state's donor registry or have donor designation on your driver's license or state ID card.

How many lives can you save by donating your organs?

Registering as an organ donor could be one of them. According to Every Organ Donor, donating your organs can save up to eight lives and further enhance the lives of 50 more people. These aren’t just numbers that you’re helping.

How many people are waiting for organ donation?

According to Donate Life, 121,000 men, women and children in the U.S. are currently waiting for a lifesaving organ donation.

Is it free to donate organs?

Besides the emotional value of saving someone’s life, registering (and undergoing the process) to donate organs is completely free. As Every Organ Donor, explains you and your family will not be responsible for any costs related to the donation. Not to mention, registering is super easy! If you didn’t check the box on the paperwork for your driver’s license originally, you can do so when renewing your license. You can also fill out a form at organdonor.gov.

Can you donate organs before you die?

You’ve probably seen the horror movies, read the Steven King novels and woken up from plenty of nightmares about organs being donated before you’re actually dead. As Mayo Clinic explains, though, this is a frightening – but false – myth. In fact, people who are organ donors undergo more tests to confirm their death than non-organ donors. Your level of medical care will also be unaffected by your organ donor status. If you go to the hospital, doctors will do everything they can to save your life. Only after these efforts have failed will your body be considered for organ donation.

What is the term for a patient's heart being cut out of a dead body?

The term “Brain Death” was invented by a team of Harvard physicians to re-define death for this very purpose. So called “brain-death” essentially means that a patient has an active ...

Why did the hospital staff want to wheel Joel away?

Thus, the hospital staff wanted to wheel Joel away to harvest his heart from his living body in a separate room. However, this would mean that Joel would not die in the presence of his parents in the ICU. (You can’t exactly have parents watch you cut the heart out of their live son.)

Can you cut a person's organs?

To be sure, certain organs can be cut from a live person with no challenge from even the most conservative bioethicists. For example, one person could give another person a kidney, and both could go on living. But after certain traumatic events, especially neuro-trauma (head and neck) the transplant surgeons aim to harvest the heart for the next living person that could use it. Again, this must be cut from a living patient who has been declared to have reduced brain activity, aka “Brain Death,” as the cover to appease the more squeamish of bioethicists. Besides the fact that this is justifying murder (as some surgical cut has to stop the heart!) it should be noted that numerous people who had formerly been declared “brain dead” have actually recovered. Dr. Shewmon MD of Pediatric Neurology at UCLA has demonstrated that children who have survived as brain dead for up to 14 years have overcome infections and even their wounds.

Does the heart beat oxygen?

Remember that the heart must beat oxygen-rich blood not only to the whole body, but to the heart itself. In lay terms, Cardiac muscle goes so badly so quickly after the heart stops beating that transplant surgeons must find a way to anesthetize the patient so as to cut the heart out of that living body.

Can transplant surgeons cut hearts?

The New England Journal of Medicine recently removed an article formerly found here where they admitted that transplant surgeons were cutting the hearts out of live patients. Their bioethical justification read word-for-word: “Many will object that transplantation surgeons cannot legally or ethically remove vital organs from patients before death, since doing so will cause their death. However, if the critiques of the current methods of diagnosing death are correct, then such actions are already taking place on a routine basis .” Let me translate that into lay terms: “Some people may think it’s wrong to cut organs out of living people, and they might be correct, but it’s irrelevant because they’re simply too late to protest, since we’ve already been doing it for quite a while.”

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