Benefits are great for those who receive organs from living kidney donors.
As you’ll see in the video below, advances are being made on a breakthrough device that can help free kidney patients from dialysis. But the ongoing need for living kidney donation is great: For roughly every 8 people who need a kidney transplant, there is only 1 donor.
That’s why living kidney donation is one of the greatest gifts you can give.
The benefits for recipients:
- They live longer, healthier lives free from dialysis.
- Living donor kidneys tend to function faster and better, and last longer than a kidney from a donor who has died.
- Recipients need less medicine to prevent rejection; therefore, they have fewer medication side effects.
- The recipient and donor both have the convenience of surgery scheduling.
- One person who receives a kidney from a living donor means one fewer person waiting for a deceased donor kidney. This lets one more person move up the wait list.
The average waiting time for a kidney from a deceased donor is 3 to 5 years, according to Donate Life America. Living kidney donors can offer an alternative to years of dialysis and time on the national transplant waiting list.
Watch how Vanderbilt is using a microchip to build a first-ever artificial kidney to help meet the need for kidney transplants:
Vanderbilt’s Kidney Transplant Program is one of the largest and oldest in the U.S. Click here to learn more about the program and find out how to become a donor.
