Organ Donation After Death: Facts & Myths

[NeedBioInfo]

Organ Donation:

Don't living people agree to have their organs donated after their death?
Um because somebody just said to me

"'I've never heard of getting dead organs as donations. that seems impossible. and yes, they'd have to be alive"

But I thought hearts and stuff were donated after a person's death

 

[MikeX]

Well, yes they are donated after the person is dead for the most part but they have to start the transplant procedure FAST! There are a few exceptions out there like the heart where the donor has to be alive for the harvest to take place, like if they are in a permanent coma.

 

[NeedBioInfo]

K I know this is a weird question (I'm sorry!) but could a dead person "donate" usable skin and/or skull fragments? Or would they have to be alive to do so?

 

[MikeX]

Yes, the skin can be removed from the donor and transplanted to the receipient for up to about 24 hours when the person dies. Since the skull fragments are bone, they should last much longer than the skin before it becomes less viable.

 

[NeedBioInfo]

With anti-rejection drugs, what is the rejection rate for organs?

 

[MikeX]

With anti-rejection drugs, what is the rejection rate for organs?

There isn't a magic #. Every organs are different, and there are many other variables that can play a part in the "rejection rate." It includes simple things like your general health, blood type, and whether the organ donor is your identical twin, your brother, your mom, someone of your race, or someone of a different ethnic. You have to remember that anti-rejection drugs supress the immune system, increasing the chances of you getting infections. Therotically, you can have a 100% success rate if you use very powerful anti-rejection drugs, but I doubt you'll be able to live long if you do due to the side effects.

 

[MikeX]

Also, rejection of organs will certainly be a thing of the past in the future. Scientists have been successful in growing organs from embroyonic stem cells in laboratory rats. It's quite sad that retarded right-wing evangelicals interferes with our progess and advancement in science because of their ideology.

 

[NeedBioInfo]

Could they grow human organs from embroyonic stem cells at the moment? I'm just asking because you said "Scientists have been successful in growing organs from embroyonic stem cells in laboratory rats"

 

[MikeX]

Could they grow human organs from embroyonic stem cells at the moment? I'm just asking because you said "Scientists have been successful in growing organs from embroyonic stem cells in laboratory rats"

Oh yes definitely. They have been able to grow neurons and repair damaged tissues like the heart. There have been numerous progess on stem cells, and the potential are enormous. Unfortunately, much of the research is done out of this country due to right wing retards like Bush who can't even pass easy classes in college. What can I say... that's what you get when you put crack addicts in office who said his greatest philisopher is "Christ", but he gives tax cuts to the rich.

Remember that embryonic stem cells are pluripotent and they have unlimited potential to differentiate to ANY cell in your body. They are the master cell in which all cells in our body came from. Given the right timing and signals from their surrounding, they can pretty much "change" to any kind of cells.

 

[NeedBioInfo]

But we couldn't use them (Stem Cells) right now to live indefinetly right?
We couldn't even use them right now to (Definetly) grow organs (that we could use) could we?

 

[NeedBioInfo]

So right now, if somebody had the money and they didn't caught, they could grow hearts lungs etc using embryonic stem cells? (For transplantation)

 

[Moonbear]

Scientists have been successful in growing organs from embroyonic stem cells in laboratory rats.

Please cite the studies to which you refer here. I'm not aware of such an accomplishment yet, and would appreciate the source.

Going back to the original question:

Organ Donation:

Don't living people agree to have their organs donated after their death?
Um because somebody just said to me

"'I've never heard of getting dead organs as donations. that seems impossible. and yes, they'd have to be alive"

But I thought hearts and stuff were donated after a person's death

A person is considered dead when brain death occurs. Individual organs stay alive longer, but not much longer if there isn't oxygen reaching them via blood supply. The body can be put on a "life" support system just to keep the blood oxygenated and pumped through the organs long enough to harvest them.