subject: To Live With One Kidney - No Worse Than With Two [print this page] Donation of a kidney has no negative consequences for remote health of the donor. Researchers from the University of Minnesota found that people, who gave one of the two kidneys, are no different from the others either in terms of life expectancy, nor the quality of health and stability of the basic life functions.
Kidney donation is traditionally considered safe, even taking into account the unavoidable surgical risks. In the U.S. study involved nearly 3700 donors. Lasted more than four decades, this study was the most ambitious in its field and provided a good opportunity to assess the very long-term results donating a kidney. The report on the latest surveys doctors placed in a fresh issue of New England Journal of Medicine.
"We got a vivid proof that the donation of vital organs is absolutely safe", - said Dr. Matthew Cooper, a transplant surgeon at the University of Maryland, who did not participate in the study. As it is known, the kidney function is filtering slag and excess fluid removal from the body. If the kidneys are denied, only hemodialysis (procedure of artificial blood purification) or organ transplantation can save man from imminent death. Over 78 000 of Americans waiting for their turn to receive a kidney from a deceased donor. This need has increased significantly in the prevalence of diabetes and obesity, and the expectation may take many years.
Leading the study, Dr. Hassan Ibrahim and his colleagues collected information about the colossal 3698 donors who, since 1963, donated by another in the clinic of the University one of their kidneys. Using official data, they attempted to contact all to see who is alive and who died. Randomly selected 255 kidney donors were made and other tests. The results were compared with results for the general population.
The study involved mostly white-skinned people; moreover, during their donation they were younger than current donors. The kidneys of most of them functioned well, providing them with excellent quality of life. The fact that 268 donors had died, researchers say, is comparable to the level of survival in the general population. Eleven donors through several decades have developed renal failure, and they needed dialysis or transplantation. Although, according to doctors, the frequency of such cases among the kidney donor was lower than in the general population.
Probably, say researchers, so good results were achieved only through strict adherence to the criteria for donor selection.
Dr Ibrahim hoped that these findings will contribute to the development of donor movement and improve the quality of organ transplant centers, particularly in the matter of careful selection of donors and strict compliance with specific requirements for them.
