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Living Kidney Donors Can Help Ease Widening Gap

According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, more than 100,000 patients are currently waiting for a kidney transplant.

But, there's only about a 16 percent chance they'll receive one this year. According to Tim Taber, a nephrologist at IU Health, that means more and more people added to the waiting list as time goes on.

"Ten people get on the list a day," he said. "And, 18 people are added to the list a day. So, the list gets bigger, and bigger and bigger."

There are many more people waiting for kidney transplants than waiting for any other organ transplants combined. Taber says that's not necessarily because of a high instance of kidney disease. Those with kidney problems can stay alive much longer than those with other failing organs because of dialysis, the medical procedure that cleans and filters the blood through an external machine.

However, dialysis isn't a substitute for organ transplants. Transplants are cheaper in the long run and can add years to a person with kidney failure's life.

"The longer they're on dialysis the shorter their life span," explains Taber. "So, if you wait until they get sick, they've lost significant amount of life years. So, we want people to understand it's important to get a transplant today and not wait two, three or five years."

Taber is so committed to spreading the word about organ donation that he live-tweeted a transplant from the operating room in 2012 (#calebskidney) in the service of increasing awareness of live donation, in which a living person donates an organ or a portion of an organ, such as a lung or liver.

According to Joel Newman, a spokesman for UNOS, "roughly two in five of the kidney transplants that take place are coming from living donors." The rest of those donations are from deceased donors, or those who donate their organs after their death.

While the government has sponsored campaigns that urge people to sign up for deceased registries, a few rigorous studies have found donors have a slightly more elevated chance of developing kidney problems in the future. This means fewer people know about live donation.

However, Newman says raising awareness for live donations is just as important as reminding people to sign up for deceased registries.

"There is the possibility for some people to come forward and be living donors, and that help meet the needs as well," he says.

According to Dr. Taber, while most living donors are friends and family members of patients, every once in a while doctors encounter a non-directed donor, who gives without a particular recipient in mind.

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