• Question: what tissues and organs can we donate

    Asked by to Del, Catherine, John, Krishna, Mo Rassul on 16 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Catherine Mansfield

      Catherine Mansfield answered on 16 Mar 2014:

      Lots of our organs can be donated for transplants in order to help other people. After we die the organs which can be donated include: the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, intestines, pancreas, cornea (a part of eye), bones and skin. This means that if just one person donates their organs they can help many different people.
      Some organs can even be donated while we are still alive, for example, we have 2 kidneys yet our bodies can function well with just one, so some people donate one of their kidneys. It is also possible to donate parts of the liver and lungs whilst you are still alive but this is not so common.

    • Photo: Adelle Thrower

      Adelle Thrower answered on 16 Mar 2014:

      Added to Catherine’s answer, live people can also donate their bone marrow as well as regularly donating blood. If you’re over 17 and over 8 stone you can donate blood three times a year.
      It’s important to remember though that organ transplantation has to be well matched to avoid the persons body rejecting the organ. It’s not as easy as one person dies their heart can fit anyone’s. That’s why some patients have to wait a very kind time for an organ to become available.
      Great question!!

    • Photo: John Foster

      John Foster answered on 16 Mar 2014:

      We can donate a few organs: kidneys, heart, liver, lungs, pancreas and the small intestine. We can also donate a number of tissues, including: the corneas of the eye, bone marrow skin, blood, tendons, cartilage and heart valves.

      Some of these can be donated while you are alive such as one of your kidneys, blood and bone marrow. If you are on the organ donor register your organs can be taken out when you die and transplanted into a sick person that needs them. This doesn’t always happen though because sometimes the organs can be damaged when a person dies or the organs are not a good enough match for the sick people that need them. It is important to have lots of people willing to donate organs though, as they can save lots of lives!

    • Photo: Krishna Mohan Surapaneni

      Krishna Mohan Surapaneni answered on 17 Mar 2014:

      The following ORGANS can be donated:

      HEART, EYES, LIVER, KIDNEYS, LUNGS, PANCREAS and INTESTINES too.

      The following TISSUES can be donated:

      BONEMARROW & SKIN

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