Rising US Obesity Rates Hits Organ Donation

The growing crisis of obesity in America is causing a new and unforeseen problem - a massive shortage of organ donors who are slim and fit enough to undergo the necessary operation.

A major study has discovered that obesity has been a strong reason for potential donors to be turned away from donating organs such as their kidneys.
Researchers at the North Shore-LIJ Health System Transplant Center in New York and Feinstein Institute for Medical Research found that almost a quarter of willing donors in a test group were initially excluded because they were obese. And only a small percentage of those rejected were then able to lose sufficient weight to donate.
There are no set limits, but broadly speaking, people who have a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or more are excluded. But with America’s average waistline expanding at a terrifying rate, this is preventing more and more people from taking part in organ donation programs.
This is a big problem which is costing people their lives. Around 7,000 patients waiting for a kidney transplant die each year because they can’t get a replacement organ in time.

Dr Mala Sachdeva, who led the research at the North Shore-LIJ Health System Transplant Center believes that to get more donors transplant facilities have to encourage more aggressive weight loss programs and join social support groups to encourage people more to lose pounds.
Something needs to be done to increase the number of live donors but also to make it as safe as possible for them to donate,' Sachdeva said.
National Kidney Foundation President Dr Lynda Szczech backed him in his claims about ‘the impact of obesity as a barrier to donation.’ ‘As the kidney transplant waiting list grows, there is a great need for living donors,’ Szczech said.
America’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated that US obesity rates will rise to 42 per cent by the year 2030. At the moment obesity already affects an estimated 78 million adults and 12.5million children in the US - a frightening statistic.