Problems with human organ functioning have a very long history. Many people suffered and ultimately died because of their organ disfunction. The beginning of the idea of organ transplantation came as a significant progress in the medicine in the 20th century. However, this was considered to be very hard and emotional for the unhealthy people. Despite this fact, there is a possibility for every human being to rescue those who have this need. Everyone can participate and become an organ donor. This paper will discuss the main pros and cons of organ donation.
Gary Wickman in his article provides different facts about organ donation. The first one is the possibility to become an organ donor being between a recently born and a 65-year-old. Organ donation depends on your health conditions, but not the age. Moreover, the family of a donor does not pay for the surgery. Organ donation is the act of social aid. Nearly 100,000 people are on a waiting list for organ donations every month. Unfortunately, approximately 20 people a month perish without obtainable organs. There are many parts of the body that can be reused by other people, such as eyes, pancreas, liver, skin, heart, kidneys, lungs, etc. There is an interesting fact that nearly 95% of people can see again after eye donations.
As it is specified in Health Research Funding, there is a possibility to donate different organs without a tragedy too:
Portions of the liver, pancreas, lung, and intestines can all be donated, as well as an entire kidney, with a minimal risk during the surgery of complications. This often occurs on a family-to-family basis, but it is not unheard of for strangers to donate organs to other strangers.
Organ donation has many evident advantages. As stated by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, 18 people per day die being on a waiting list for an available organ. Approximately eight human lives can be saved due to one organ donation. According to the statistics, nearly 120,000 people are waiting for an organ at the present time (United States Department of Health and Human Services).
Firstly, giving another person a chance to live is an important advantage of organ donations. Owing to organ givers, men, women and children all over the world can live fuller lives.
Secondly, receiving huge gratitude from recipients of organs is an indirect advantage that can be regarded as a blessing. Due to the organ transplantation, patients revert to their normal way of life without the need for further expensive medical treatment. According to the national statistics, the waiting list of organ donation is enlarged every 10 minutes.
Another essential advantage of organ donation is the agreement ratification for non-organ and organ donors, to guarantee compliances and non-compliances of organ donations have been flawlessly arranged in classes or categories. The Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) agent will look in the state's donor registry to warrant that the deceased person has become a donor. If so, a lawful agreement will be signed. If the deceased person is not on record, and there is no other juridical agreement for donation, such as an indicator in a driver's license, the OPO will request consent from the person's closest living relatives. In 2006, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) made a collateral pact with the University of Michigan to set a national program to grant compensation for travel costs, temporary accommodation, food and means of subsistence to the living organ donors who do not have enough money to pay for these costs. As stated by the U.S. Health & Human Services (HHS), there is an equal possibility for the non-resident foreigner to receive or to donate organs in the United States. According to the statistics, in 2001, 334 foreigners were organ donors, and 259 aliens received the organs they needed. An important advantage of organ donation is the lawful confirmation of organ and non-organ donors to assure non-compliances and compliances of organ donations have been accurately organized in categories or classes.
Competent surgeons behave towards the body of the donor with dignity and deference, and operations are conducted in totally clean conditions. Removing organs from the bodies of dead donors does not blemish donors' body as the surgical cuts will all be closed, without changing in the appearance of the donor. Ultimately, the action of removing organs from the donor will remain strictly confidential and will not influence preparation for the burial.
Sick people are matched to organs based on different factors, such as medical need, blood type and histocompatibility, geographical location, time on the waiting list. Transplantation is made according to the medical need, not citizenship. It means that a foreigner has the opportunity to obtain or donate an organ too.
Apart from this, some people make a decision to donate not only their organs but even their whole bodies for the medical experiments. Such medical research helps to find medical treatments and remedies for different medical diseases, such as diabetes, cancer, etc. Conclusively, it can save human lives in the future.
Usually, religions are not against organ donation and leave the resolution up to the people. Nevertheless, Shinto religion believes that a dead body is dirty and full of danger and risk and that organ donation can have a bad influence on the patient's body. Donating organs is an essential decision, and an individual should make it on his/her own. However, it is significant to have the necessary information on every issue that may appear during or after transplantation. Resolving whether to donate the whole body to medical researches, transplant organs to the person who needs them or not to do anything can be hard. If a person chooses organ donation, he/she enables somebody on a waiting list to get the necessary body part. If a person bequeaths his/her body for medical researches, medical students may practice on it before working with living people. One more significant advantage is the possibility to transplant different organs from human beings who are alive. There is a great probability to find a donor among the genetically similar members of the family. As a result, it decreases the risk of rejection. Besides, there is a possibility for kidney and partial lung donors to choose a person who receives this organ. As a result, their family and friends will have priority on the waiting list of organs.
Even though the advantages of organ donation are many, there are certain counterarguments as well. The first one is diabetes development. This serious disease poses the risk of organ rejection, perilous contagion, and decease. According to the statistics, diabetes could happen in more than 1 out of 10 people after transplantation. Diabetes can be caused or worsened by corticosteroids or the medicine used to restrain the immune system.
Also, the expectation of a donor organ can cause mental or emotional stress. Particularly, the latency is not known and may alter in the average national waiting time needed to make sure sufficient matching of donors and recipients to guarantee successful organ transplantation. The American median national waiting time for the lungs is nearly 141 days, pancreas - 260 days, liver 361 - days, heart - 113 days, kidneys - 1219 days.
The second con is a possible transplant rejection. There is no 100% guarantee that the new organ in an organ receiver will function well after the transplantation. Sometimes, the immune system may identify the transplanted organ as something foreign. Usually, it happens when the immune system identifies the foreign substance that causes an immune reaction in the human body, which is dissimilar and not matched. The inconsistency of organs may cause a hemotransfusion reaction or transplant rejection.
Thirdly, recipients and organ donors will have clearly seen scars after the surgery. Narcosis used during the surgical operation may cause individuals to undergo discomfort and pain. Moreover, efficacy and reactions caused by prescribed drugs taken before or after transplantation may vary.
Unfortunately, commercial organ trade is very widespread nowadays. According to the National Organ Transplant Act, it is forbidden to sale organs for transplantation. People who violate this law may be sentenced to five-year imprisonment and must pay $50,000 as a fine. Selling and buying of organs are illegitimate in most countries but lawful in Iran.
Another problem is that recipients may experience certain surgery complications. Frequently, the transplanted organs may not work immediately, and there is a risk that the organ will not work at all. Different complications may induce health problems in the future or even death. Apart from this, transplantation takes time for the body to get better after the surgical interference. As a rule, it is rather costly.
Some of the recipients feel uncomfortable receiving organs from someone of the different class, gender, faith, religion, etc. More than that, this may cause certain psychological effects on living donors, namely, post-surgical depression. The common symptoms are feelings of grief or emptiness, the absence of interest to enjoyable activities, sleep disorders, including sleeplessness, loss of concentration, loss of energy and exhaustion, the appearance of suicidal thoughts, etc. Furthermore, recipients may experience a physiological guilt. It is a frequent response that people have after the transplantation. According to Hippen et al., recipients may think inordinately often about the donor and feel guilty about gaining profit from the death of the donor.
According to George Amick "In 2008, some 1.6 million New Jersey drivers were registered organ donors. The number today is 2.3 million, including 718,000 who signed up in 2012". New Jersey takes the 44th place in the rate of citizens who decide to be registered donors. Certainly, there are some cases in NJ when organ donations went wrong. Unfortunately, organ rejections are very frequent after transplantation. There are several cases with personal injury in New Jersey. People could have easily been cured after the operation, but eventually died because of neglect of the doctors or other staff in the hospital. Moreover, there are certain cases connected with the gravest medical malpractices and errors in surgery.
Medical malfeasance cases in NJ connected with the wrong prescription of medications and dosages are widespread. They may lead to death or afflict different mental or physical damage to a human being ("Types of Medical Malpractice that are Personal Injury New Jersey Cases", 2014).
In my opinion, donation of organs is the definitive act of human goodness. In spite of the fact that there are many cons, the pros seem to outweigh them. Sometimes, an organ transplantation might fail; nevertheless, the possibility of success is higher. If a person has a chance to save someone's life after his/her death, a desire to do it is a heroic action.
In conclusion, organ donation is a very serious and hard decision to make. On the one hand, it is a gift of life. On the other hand, it may cause an emotional trauma, physical complications and unsuccessful transplants. The concept behind organ donation is not complicated. Donation of organs is an intensely liable and deserving respect and approval thing to do. More than that, it is one of the most veritable ways of saving someone's life. Nevertheless, it is an important decision with big consequences. Certainly, some human beings will be sure that the cons outweigh the pros, It is a very individual decision, and a person has to decide to donate an organ for him/herself. Furthermore, it is a noble act of saving one's life. There are many significant reasons as to why a person should become an organ donor. Usually, there are many delusions concerning organ donation, which occur owing to lack of knowledge in this sphere.
