Live Organ Transplants

 Live Organ Transplants 

Live organ transplant is a procedure where one surgically removes a full organ or a portion from a living donor and plants it into the patient whose organ is no longer functioning. Most donations occur after the donor has passed but not always, some donations can happen when the donor is still alive. Living donations happen amongst family and friends where one is in need and another donates. Some donors have presigned organ donation forms in case of tragic accidents so that their organs will be re-used for others.  Sometimes with family consent or the previously signed organ donation card families will choose to keep their loved ones alive so that the organs can be used where needed. This is the gift of life for another. 

There are many positives to live organ transplants for the donor and the recipient. For the recipient, especially from live donors, the  organs function almost immediately for kidneys and livers. Increased life expectancy, especially for kidney transplants can potentially increase life span up to 10 years. For donors, benefits are mainly psychological, firstly you are saving someone's life and helping them for the better. You also will get increased time with that person and not have to lose them in your life. As many positives, there are to live organ transplants there can still be issues. 

Issues can still accrue, such as cells not being compatible. The transplant can be rejected because of their immune system noticing the antigens on the cell that do not match make the immune system protect itself by destroying the different tissue. Other complications can be infections from medicine used to suppress the immune system attacking the new organ. The transplanted organ can also lose functions and the body can also have many side effects from the many medicines. One of the main issues is waiting for donors.

Besides the pros and cons of organ transplants, a debate that is still happening is:  who gets them? Many argue the importance of human lives on where they should be placed on the waiting list. This all comes down to ethical beliefs on who should receive the very small number of organs available for transplant, causing humans to have to rank the worth of other human lives on a scale. Most transplants come from a donor the recipient knows personally that is a match, but what if the patient doesn't have someone who is a match? That's where they are put on a waiting list and people have debates on who should get the organs first. 

Learning about the live organ transplant from a scientific point of view is very fascinating, including learning how the cells will react to the new organ and what happens to them if they reject it. From an ethical point of view, we can see the effects on people themselves and how there are hard decisions for people to make with a small amount of time. Live organ transplants can be one of the most effective ways but we should still know the associated risks.