The gift of life for the day of love

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services statistics show that an average of 79 people receive organ transplants every day. However, 18 people die on average each day waiting for transplants that cannot take place because of the shortage of donated organs. Their figures show that as of January, 10 times as many transplantation candidates are on waiting lists waiting for an organ to become available as there are donors.

National Donor Day began as an annual community service project of the Saturn Corporation, partnering with United Auto Workers members for an organ and tissue donation drive in 1998. It focused on “Five Points of Life”: the power of organs, tissues, marrow, platelets and blood to save lives. It was joined by the National Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program, the Washington Regional Transplant Community and nonprofit health organizations as one of the largest annual lifesaving donation drives in the United States. National Donor Day is now annually recognized by congressional proclamation Feb. 14 each year.

Dr. Hosein Shokmouh-Amiri is clinical professor of surgery and director of liver transplant at Willis-Knighton Health System’s John C. McDonald Regional Transplant Center, as well as the center’s overall co-director. Shokmouh-Amiri said, “National Donor Day is making the public aware of precious gifts of life through organ donations. Organ transplantation is a 20th Century miracle which has become a reality through the art of medicine and the good nature of wonderful human beings. By donating organs, people can help to continue life for others where their organs have been failing but otherwise can have a rather normal life.”

Tisues may be donated by living donors. HHS lists tissues donated as including skin, bone, cartilage, ligaments, tendons, heart valves, blood vessels, blood, marrow and skin cells. Amnion and cord blood are tissues which can be donated by mothers after childbirth.

HHS said although organs and tissues are not matched according to race or ethnicity and people of different races frequently match, individuals waiting for organ transplant will have a better chance of receiving one if there are large numbers of donors from their racial/ethnic background. They state this is because compatible blood types and tissue markers, which are critical for donor/recipient matching, are more likely to be found among members of the same ethnicity. Greater diversity in donations, therefore, potentially increase transplantation access for everyone. The HHS organ donation information site states minorities overall have a particularly high need for organ transplants because some diseases of the kidney, heart, lung, pancreas and liver are found more frequently in racial and ethnic minority populations than in the general population.

Shokouh-Amiri said, “There are huge discrepancies between organ supply and demand, locally, national and internationally. All organs are in demand: liver, heart, lung, kidney, pancreas and small bowel. The most common transplant that take place in Shreveport-Bossier area are liver, kidney and pancreas, but all organs are needed to be transplanted locally.”

Anyone, regardless of age, should consider themselves potential organ and tissue donors, according to HHS. They state no one is too old or too young to be an organ or tissue donor. Condition is more important than age. There are only a few conditions HHS lists, which would absolutely exclude the possibility of donation (such as HIV, active cancer or systemic infection). Even if someone has a medical condition, which might effect one or more organs, some kinds of donation may still be possible. Doctors will examine the organs/tissues and determine their suitability for donation if and when the possibility occurs. Donors younger than the age of 18 in the United States may need the permission of a parent or guardian in order to donate.

Shokouh-Amiri said, “Anyone who is medically fit can become an organ donor. You must first sign your donor card; however, make sure to discuss this important decision with your family. There is no cost to become a donor. Medical conditions that would keep someone from becoming a donor would be heart disease, cancer, uncontrollable infection, active drug user and high blood pressure.”

One way of becoming an organ or tissue donor is by marking the organ donor box when applying for a driver’s license. Becoming a donor online at any time is now an option.

Virtual donor cards can be filled out online within a few minutes. In Louisiana, registration can be accessed at donatelifela.org or in Texas one can be found at www.donatelifetexas.org.