Kidney Donors Need Not Fear a Downside
Research finds that a long, healthy life awaits

(HealthDay News) -- People thinking of donating a kidney sometimes wonder whether they might end up needing it themselves.

But there's apparently no need to fret.

The largest and longest follow-up study has found that Americans who donate a kidney live long, healthy lives.

"Their life span is comparable to others of the same age, gender and ethnic background," Dr. Hassan N. Ibrahim, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota and an author of the study, told HealthDay.

In fact, he said, "it appears that kidney donors might actually have better survival."

The kidneys are bean-shaped organs about the size of a fist and located near the middle of the back -- one on each side of the spine. A person's kidneys process about 200 quarts of blood to sift out about two quarts of waste products and extra water, which become urine, according to the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Chronic kidney disease, which leads to permanent loss of kidney function, can be caused by an injury or a disease that damages the kidneys, including diabetes and high blood pressure. When damaged, the kidneys do not do their waste-removal job as well as they need to.

If the kidneys fail, a transplant can keep a person going, but Ibrahim said that more than 100,000 Americans are waiting for kidney transplants. The demand far outpaces available organs.

Some donors are deceased; others are living donors who go on with one kidney. Medical experts consider the ideal donor to be a healthy young person with normal blood pressure.

Ibrahim and his colleagues tracked what happened to nearly 3,700 people who donated kidneys, some as far back as 1963.

The study -- the first U.S. study to compare the survival of kidney donors with that of the general public -- found that "their quality of life was better than 60 percent of the people in the general population of the same age and gender," Ibrahim said.

Transplant experts say that a growing number of kidneys are being donated by living family members and friends of those who need them. That, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, has advantages over a kidney from a deceased donor because:

• People who receive a kidney from a family member or friend don't have to wait.
• Living donation allows for greater preparation and for the operation to be scheduled at a convenient time.
• Kidneys from family members are more likely to be good matches, although there is no guarantee.
• Kidneys from living donors do not need to be transported from one site to another so the kidney is in better condition when it's transplanted.
• Living donation helps people waiting for kidneys from deceased donors by reducing the number of people on the waiting list.

On the Web

Learn more about kidney donation from the National Kidney Foundation. http://www.kidney.org/atoz/atozTopic_Organ-Tissue-Donation.cfm

SOURCES: HealthDay News; Hassan N. Ibrahim, M.D., associate professor, medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Jan. 29, 2009, New England Journal of Medicine; U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (www.kidney.niddk.nih.gov)
Author: Dennis Thompson
Publication Date: Jan. 31, 2010
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