IN THE NEWS: OBESITY and ORGAN POOL DONATION

Besides causing many other problems, obesity is leading to 

organ shortage as well. A study presented at NKF 2012 showed  that a
large majority of obese potential kidney donors are unable to lose
the weight needed to donate, despite being willing to give their organs.

There is not enough research studying the prevalence of obesity
among the population of potential donors.  In addition, no one
has studied how hard it is to lose weight and then donate.

This single center study examined more than 100 individuals who were
willing to be living donors. About 18% of the cohort had a BMI that was
considered normal (18 to 25), while the majority fit into the overweight
or obese categories. More than 22% of potential donors were excluded as a
result of their weight. Of the 22% who were excluded, only three 

individuals were successful at losing enough weight to donate.  

Of those who were excluded, 30% reported they were trying to lose
weight, but were unsuccessful.

What can be done? What do you think the cut off should be for
evaluating a donor in terms of BMI?

Check out the full news on the following websites:

http://www.nephrologynews.com/kidney-transplant/article/obesity-reduces-organ-donor-pool

An exclusive interview with the authors of the abstract click here:

http://ajkdblog.org/2012/05/11/scm12-eajkd-interview-with-dr-mala-sachdeva/