Organ Transplant example essay topic

Organ Transplant is surgery that transfers any type of organ from one person to another. Transplanted organs replace diseased, damaged, or destroyed body parts. They can help restore the health of a person who might otherwise die or be seriously disabled. In most developed countries, organ transplants have become an established form of treatment for a variety of diseases and injuries. Commonly transplanted organs include the heart, lungs, kidney, and liver. Most transplant operations last several hours, and most patients survive the operation.

Patients usually remain in the hospital for 1 to 4 weeks, depending on the organ transplanted. Many patients die while awaiting organ transplants because the number of donors falls far short of the number needed. To save lives, health care professionals encourage more people to consider organ donation. Attitudes about organ donation vary among individuals in different nations.

The United States and the United Kingdom, for example, rely on a policy called informed consent. In this approach, patients or their closest relatives must directly give permission for organs to be used for transplants. People can express their desire to donate organs at the time of their death by carrying a signed donor card or by marking a space provided on their driver's license. Cadaver organs are usually taken from someone who accidentally received a fatal head injury. After the accident, the brain dies, but the rest of the body is kept alive with a respirator or other artificial means. Once all brain activity stops, hospital staff or a representative of a local Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) may ask the family about organ donation.

If the family agrees, the OPO begins a search for suitable recipients. After a recipient has been chosen, organs are removed from the donor and taken to recipients' hospitals. Meanwhile, the recipient is prepared for surgery. Because of the shortage of human organs, researchers are actively investigating the possibility of obtaining donor organs from animals. Transplanting organs from one species to another is called xenotransplantation. Use of pigs as organ donors is an especially active area of research.

Pigs are already widely raised for food and leather, and their organs are about the same size as adult human organs. But scientists will have to overcome many obstacles before pigs or other animals can serve as organ donors. One major concern is preventing accidental transfer of viruses from other animals to people. For example, research indicates that HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, developed from a virus that infects some chimpanzees.

In many countries, governments are developing strict regulations to ensure the safety of xenotransplantation. Rejection occurs when the body's immune system attacks a transplanted organ. The immune system fights disease by finding and destroying bacteria, viruses, and other foreign materials in the body. If the immune system recognizes that a transplanted organ came from outside the body, the system attacks the organ as a dangerous invader. Doctors try to prevent rejection by choosing the best donor and prescribing special medication to protect the transplant. To reduce the risk of rejection, doctors must find a donor who has the same blood type as the patient.

For some organs-such as the lung, heart, and liver- it is also important that the donor's organ be relatively similar in size to the one it replaces. Kidney transplants are the most successful type of organ transplant. Ninety percent or more of these transplants are still functioning after one year. About 80 percent of heart transplant patients and about 75 percent of liver transplant patients survive for at least one year, and about 70 percent of these patients live for three years or longer. But survival requires continued medical care, including close supervision, and patients must take immunosuppressive drugs for the rest of their lives.