Organ Donation News and Research

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Federal Court refuses to reconsider bone marrow donor payments

According to a federal appeals court it would not reconsider a ruling that allows bone marrow donors to be paid for their donations like blood donors.

29 Mar 2012

UM completes most extensive full vascularized composite allograft to date

The University of Maryland released details today of the most extensive full face transplant completed to date, including both jaws, teeth, and tongue.

28 Mar 2012

Study describes horrific experiences of poor organ trafficking victims

A Michigan State University anthropologist who spent more than a year infiltrating the black market for human kidneys has published the first in-depth study describing the often horrific experiences of poor people who were victims of organ trafficking.

13 Mar 2012

Diaverum takes an active role in 2012 World Kidney day

Diaverum, one of the world's leading renal care service providers, is taking an active role in today's World Kidney day. Through activities such as open door days at dialysis clinics, free kidney screening and blood pressure tests, Diaverum is increasing awareness for renal diseases and informing about possible prevention measures.

8 Mar 2012

Study: Kidney donors at no increased risk of heart disease

There is good news for the 27,000 plus people around the world who donate a kidney each year. A study which followed living kidney donors for 10 years found that they were at no greater risk for heart disease than the healthy general population.

2 Mar 2012

U-M competes with 16 other colleges in 9th annual Gift of Life Campus Challenge

The University of Michigan is aiming to take down its instate rivals and save lives at the same time. U-M and 16 of the state's other colleges and universities are competing in the ninth annual Gift of Life Campus Challenge, a competition to see which school can sign up the most people to the Michigan Organ Donor Registry by Feb. 23. When signing up online, new donors can select which school to credit.

15 Feb 2012

Canada organ donation rates plateau

A report released Monday by the Canadian Institute for Health Information reveals that public awareness campaigns and stories of grateful organ recipients have not done much to improve the number of organ donations in Canada. Donor rates have stagnated in the country since 2006 while thousands of Canadians continue to languish on wait lists for organs, the report adds.

14 Feb 2012

AOPO supports and facilitates living organ and tissue donation

Currently, there are more than 112,000 patients on the national organ transplant waiting list. These candidates often endure difficult yet necessary life-sustaining treatments while waiting for potential organ matches. Nineteen people die every day while waiting, and those that are eventually transplanted can endure wait times that can extend anywhere from 5-9 years.

6 Feb 2012

Major surgery to donate a portion of liver does not interfere with long, healthy life

People who donate a portion of their livers for transplant to a relative or friend whose liver is failing can generally expect to live long, healthy lives and recover safely from the donation surgery, Johns Hopkins researchers have found.

26 Jan 2012

Nurse donates kidney to patient

A nurse offered to donate her own kidney to a 23-year-old patient. Allison Batson spent two years on the transplant floor of Emory University Hospital before her encounter with Clay Taber, a recent Auburn University graduate who fell sick one day after his 22nd birthday. He was diagnosed with kidney failure. The Auburn University graduate was diagnosed with Goodpasture's syndrome, a rare autoimmune disease that can result in severe damage to the kidneys and lungs.

17 Jan 2012

Scientists discover specific immune system T cells that trigger destruction of type 1 diabetes

Researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology have proven - for the first time in human tissues -- the specific immune system T cells which trigger the destruction of type 1 diabetes in the pancreas. The finding is an important advance that verifies in humans several important disease characteristics shown in mouse studies and provides a key focal point for interrupting the disease process.

13 Jan 2012

Pennsylvania Department of Health to provide free influenza and Tdap vaccines

The Department of Health will offer free influenza and Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis (Tdap) vaccines at the 2012 Pennsylvania Farm Show, Jan. 9-13, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

7 Jan 2012

Children with biliary atresia better tolerate maternal liver grafts

Children with a rare, life-threatening disease that is the most common cause of neonatal liver failure - biliary atresia - better tolerate liver transplants from their mothers than from their fathers, according to a UCSF-led study.

4 Jan 2012

Donate Life to honor 10 deceased Hispanic organ and tissue donors with floragraphs

Almost 2,000 Hispanics donate organs every year in the United States, saving countless lives in the process, a contribution that will be recognized by the Donate Life float taking part in the 123rd Rose Parade in Pasadena. Five Hispanic men have been chosen to ride on the float as recognition for their gift of life to others through living donation or for the role they played in a deceased loved one's donation.

26 Dec 2011

Declined consent affects organ donation rates

Research published today in the British Journal of Anaesthesia suggests that organ donation rates in the UK could be increased if the current issues affecting declined consent are improved. At present, only 30% of the UK population are registered on the NHS Organ Donor Register (ODR). From 2003 to 2005, the overall consent rate for donation after brain death (DBD) was 59%.

23 Dec 2011

Roundup: Ohio lawmakers consider abortion bill; Aetna sues Mich. Blues

An Ohio lawmaker on Wednesday touted the importance of the fetal heartbeat as an indicator of life as he urged a legislative panel to support a bill that would impose the nation's most stringent abortion limit. The measure would outlaw abortions at the first detectable fetal heartbeat. That's sometimes as early as six weeks into pregnancy.

9 Dec 2011

Better medical care for kidney failure in Germany

In complex cases of kidney failure, medical care in Germany evidently operates better than in the US. Scientists at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin were able to show that German patients who have an increased risk of rejection reactions due to prior immunization have better survival rates than people with diseases of similar severity in the US.

3 Dec 2011

Wales may adopt new organ donation laws

New legislation in Wales proposes the modification of current organ donation rules. It could mean that relatives would not be able to prevent a dead person's organs being used in transplants if they had not opted out before they died. If the proposals are passed then Wales will be the first in the UK to go forward with the system.

8 Nov 2011

Study: Heart transplantation is a very safe and effective therapy

Heart transplantation is a very safe and effective therapy, according to a new long-term study presented today at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2011, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society.

24 Oct 2011

Women to use her mother’s womb in Australian medical first transplant

A Victorian woman will be the first Australian to use her own mother’s womb after it has been transplanted into her. Intensive care nurse Melinda Arnold, 34, will undergo a womb transplant after her mother, Denise Allen, agreed to donate the organ to her. Mrs. Arnold, who was born without a womb but with ovaries that produce eggs, twice tried unsuccessfully to use her mother as a surrogate and adoption attempts also failed.

17 Oct 2011