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Who Can Donate Organs or Tissue?
As a rule, anyone who is over 18 can register to be an organ donor, and parents and guardians can authorize donation from children under 18. According to the Mayo […]
As a rule, anyone who is over 18 can register to be an organ donor, and parents and guardians can authorize donation from children under 18. According to the Mayo Clinic, there are very few medical conditions that automatically disqualify a person from donating organs or tissue, and no one is automatically disqualified based on age. Additionally, since the passage of the HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act in 2013, the organs from HIV-positive donors can now be transplanted into recipients with HIV.
Living organ donors are generally screened for underlying medical conditions before they can donate because they will need to be healthy enough to tolerate the surgery and recovery period. Although very few conditions will automatically exclude you, a history of uncontrolled hypertension, diabetes, or certain infections could prevent you from donating until they are under control.
Nor is age necessarily a factor in whether or not you can donate. The suitability of an elderly person’s organs might be evaluated more carefully than that of a younger donor, but transplants from people in their 60s and 70s have occurred. Even if you’re not suitable as an organ donor, your tissues may be used no matter what your age. Doctors will always try to use whatever organs and tissues they can to help save and improve lives.
With that being said, it’s important to know that deceased organ donation is only possible when a person dies under certain limited circumstances. Because organs begin to die almost immediately after heart function stops, they will not remain viable unless breathing and circulation are continuously maintained through artificial means. To accomplish this, a person who has suffered a cardiac arrest must receive CPR within minutes of death and be admitted to a hospital and placed on a ventilator soon after that. They must then be maintained on ventilator support until the organs can be recovered, after brain death or cardiac death is declared.
Sources
“HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act is Now Law”. The White House. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2013/11/21/hiv-organ-policy-equity-hope-act-now-law
