Transplants

A transplant is the replacement of a diseased organ with a new fully functional one.
The idea of transplanting organs and parts of the body from one person to another is very old. The first human organ to be succesfully transplanted - in the 1950s - was a kidney. The first succesful heart transplant was conducted not until 1976 in Kapstadt.

The key to a succesfull organ transplant is finding the right donor in the right time. Donor organs must match the patient's blood and tissue. Another problem is rejection of the new organ, because the body's immune system identifies the transplant as a foregin object and so sets about destroing it. Good way to avoid rejection to some extent are family-oriented transplants. A donor can be a sibling, a parent, a son or daughter. Their bodies are similar in the make up of their tissue, which incredibly increases a chance of a succesfull transplant. But when are in a need of a heart, cornea or lungs we need a person who is pronounced as brain-dead. One man is able to save even four other people : a taker of a heart, liver and two kidneys. Usually victims of car accidents become valuable sources of organs for transplants. Still, the demand for human organs is enormous. If only they were more readily available, a greater number of lives could be saved.

In the hospital the organs may retain their full function from a few to more than 12 - 13 hours. If the organ must be transported to a distant room it is rinsed, packed in sterile plastic bag with saline solution and put in a cooler. A heart must be transplanted into a new body within four hours, a liver should be transfered from one body to another right away, and kidneys can be stored up for two days.

And what about donating our own organs after our death?
The law doesn't force the doctor to ask for a permission of the family to transplant the corpses organ anymore. The law states now that if you where not against donating your organs while you where alive then they could be used to save other people’s live in the event of your death. In England anyone who feels like donating any of his organs after his death, carries a signed Donor Card, by which he agrees to have the organ removed.

Pros:
- the most important advantage of human organ transplantation is the possibility of saving somebody's life. people in critical conditions with little hope to survive get a new lease on life if they get an organ transplant

Cons:
- it's hard to find donors with matching tissue and blood type.
- some people don't believe in transplants because of their religous beliefs
- the organs have to be used shortly after they have been collected so immediate surgery is often necessary