Ivanhoe
(Ivanhoe Newswire) – For potential organ donors, it is not enough to have just good intentions; you need to have a good waistline as well.
Researchers at the Hofstra North Shore- LIJ School of Medicine and Feinstein Institute for Medical Research conducted a retrospective analysis which found that morbid obesity can prevent people from potentially donating their kidneys to save others’ lives. The risk of operation complications and the development of chronic conditions linked to obesity (type 2 diabetes, heart disease, etc.) generally exclude morbidly obese patients from donating their organs.
The study was a single-center, retrospective analysis of 104 potential living kidney donors between 2008 and 2011 who were grouped according to their body mass index (BMI). Those who had a BMI higher than 35 kg/m², which classifies them as morbidly obese, were excluded from the donation and referred to a nutritionist. The nutritionist then created an individualized diet and lifestyle modification for each potential donor and followed up with them throughout the study period. Of the total 23 who were considered morbidly obese, only 3 succeeded at losing weight and donating.
Read more: http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=29389
{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
1 comment:
What's disturbing about this study, it's press release, and this interpretation of it, is that it reduces the potential donors to nothing but walking organ incubators. Morbid obesity is a public health problem in its own right, but the only thing the researchers are concerned with is getting them down to a manageable weight so they can harvest their kidney for someone else.
80% of folks who lose weight regain it within 2 years. 2/3 regain more than they lost within 4-5 years. Can you guess what's worse than a morbidly obese potential kidney donor? A morbidly obese individual with reduced kidney function and no renal reserve, which is most likely where these theoretical prospective LKDs will end up if Sachdeva and their ilk have their way.
The public should never be viewed as nothing more than medical supply. Living donors (even potential ones) are people too, and we deserve the same consideration and protections given to receipients. www.livingdonor101.com
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