North Carolina teen hopes to have double lung transplant

I'm pleased to post this story about a young girl not only in need of a life-saving lung transplant but also in need of financial help for which several fundraisers are planned as noted in the article.

Allison Hunt, 15, a sophomore at Ledford High School, suffers from a rare lung disease. 

By Seth Stratton
The Dispatch

When Allison Hunt was younger, she cheered, played soccer and took dance lessons. Although the 15-year-old Ledford sophomore was thought to have asthma, she tried to participate in as many physical activities as she could.

A diagnosis of a rare lung disease four years ago has put a halt to those activities and many more. But the determined teen is hopeful that a double lung transplant in the next six months may help her back into the dance studio once more.

Tamara Hunt, Allison's mother, said her daughter's world was turned upside down in 2006 when she was diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans, an irreversible, dangerous and rare lung disease that inflames the bronchioles in Allison's lungs, making it very difficult for her to breathe.

Tamara and her husband, Larry Hunt, Allison's parents, thought their daughter, like millions of other children, had asthma growing up, albeit a severe case. But after doctors at Brenner Children's Hospital in Winston-Salem took a CT scan of her lungs, they found some unusual nodules on them. They decided to take a biopsy of her lungs and sent them to a hospital in Texas and the world-renowned Johns Hopkins University doctors in Maryland for analysis.

Allison has been able to lead a pretty normal life since being diagnosed with the rare lung condition. But in October, her health and lung volume started to slowly deteriorate. She went back to Brenner for several visits over the next few months and was told to use an oxygen tank while sleeping. After more analysis and tests, doctors determined April 8 that Allison needed a double lung transplant.

The family set an appointment for Aug. 9 and 10 at Duke University Medical Center in Durham for further testing and evaluations. Allison and the family had to undergo tests and determinations as to whether Allison could be a candidate for a transplant, what costs the insurance company would cover and when Allison might be able to receive the life-changing surgery. At this time, Allison was also put on oxygen 24 hours a day.

On Monday, Allison and her family headed back to Durham for further testing. To be able to receive a transplant, Allison needs to put some more weight on her 59-pound frame, her mother said. This week, she will have a feeding tube placed in her to help her gain some weight. She will also have to participate in some pulmonary rehabilitation programs before the transplant surgery to prepare her body for the new organs.

Doctors have told the Hunt family that they hope to complete the transplant surgery within the next six months. After a donor match is found and the lungs surgically placed in her, Allison will have to undergo about four to six more weeks of rehabilitation at Duke before being able to return home to Thomasville.

Although insurance is covering 85 percent of Allison's medical bills, that still leaves a large amount uncovered that the Hunts have to pay for themselves. Tamara Hunt said the total cost for the evaluations, surgery and rehabilitation for her daughter will end up costing between $750,000 and $1 million.

To that end, the family has sought the help from the community to come up with the first $10,000. They have raised about $3,500 so far but still have a long way to go. To help meet that goal, a motorcycle ride for the Hunt family is being held at 10 a.m. Sept. 11. The benefit ride will begin at the Tractor Supply store in the Parkway Plaza shopping center near Cotton Grove Road and Interstate 85 and end at Bethany United Methodist Church, at the intersection of Bethany Road and N.C. Highway 47.

The ride is $15 for bikers and $5 for passengers and will include a silent auction, live music, food ($5 meal tickets are available for nonriders) and a 50/50 raffle.

A charity golf tournament has also been established to benefit the Hunts, set for Sept. 25 at Winding Creek Golf Course in Thomasville. Cost of the four-man team tournament is $50 each and includes lunch at 12:30 p.m. before the 1 p.m. tourney start. The prize for the tournament is $400 for first place; $200 for second place; and $100 for third place. Mulligans, two each, can be purchased for $5. For more information on the golf tournament, contact Larry Hunt at 688-2453 or e-mail allisonlh13@yahoo.com.

Members of Allison's church, Faith Missionary Alliance in the northern Davidson area, have also been busy praying for the Hunt family and may provide a fundraiser in the future.

Allison's friends, Katie Pollard, Rachel Hall and others, have also been busy making friendship bracelets ($2 each or three for $5) and duct tape wallets ($5 for the small one and $7 for the large one) to sell to help benefit their friend. Allison is going to classes half time - she plans to take two core classes this semester and two next semester - and gets out at 11:30 a.m. each day.

Tamara also said that she has set up a fund at her employer, Bank of the Carolinas on West Center Street in Lexington, to help with her daughter's bills. Those who don't ride motorcycles or play golf can stop by a branch to donate, she said. Both her and Larry's employer, Thomas Built Buses, have been very supportive of the family, she added.

"She's a trooper," Tamara said. "She's a strong one. She keeps mine and my husband's spirits high. She just has a good attitude and good spirit about her. She knows the good Lord has taken care of her for 15 years, and he will take care of her in the future, too."

A Facebook.com page has also been set up to update the community on Allison's status. Search for "Praying for Allison Hunt(:" on the popular social network site.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help 75 to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Biosynthetic corneas seemingly restore vision among humans

Health Jockey

The cornea is known to be a thin translucent layer of collagen and cells that act as a window into the eyeball. It must be completely transparent to allow light to enter. Experts from Canada and Sweden have revealed that biosynthetic corneas apparently have the ability to help redevelop and fix damaged eye tissue and enhance vision among humans.

Diseases which cause clouding of the cornea pave a path to the most common cause of blindness. For a long time experts have been developing biosynthetic corneas with the help of collagen formed in the laboratory and are further carved into the shape of a cornea. After thorough analysis scientists have put forth in-human experience with biosynthetic cornea implantation.

“This study is important because it is the first to show that an artificially fabricated cornea can integrate with the human eye and stimulate regeneration. With further research, this approach could help restore sight to millions of people who are waiting for a donated human cornea for transplantation,” said senior author Dr. May Griffith of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, the University of Ottawa and Linköping University.

Experts conducted a clinical trial among 10 Swedish patients with advanced keratoconus or central corneal scarring. Every participant enlisted for the study underwent surgery on one eye to eradicate damaged corneal tissue and restore it with biosynthetic cornea. This cornea was developed using synthetically cross-linked recombinant human collagen. After prolonged analysis, the scientists evaluated that cells and nerves from the patients’ own corneas had developed into the implant. This caused formation of a regenerated cornea that resembled normal and healthy tissue.

“We are very encouraged by these results and by the great potential of biosynthetic corneas,” remarked Dr. Per Fagerholm, an eye surgeon at Linköping University in Sweden. “Further biomaterial enhancements and modifications to the surgical technique are ongoing, and new studies are being planned that will extend the use of the biosynthetic cornea to a wider range of sight-threatening conditions requiring transplantation.”

Experts were surprised to identify that the participants did not experience any rejection reaction or require long-term immune suppression. These conditions are observed to be extreme side effects linked with the use of human donor tissue. The biosynthetic corneas became sensitive to touch and started producing normal tears, thereby keeping the eye oxygenated. Among the participants enlisted for the study, six out of ten experienced advanced visions. Besides, after contact lenses were fitted, vision was similar to conventional corneal transplantation with human donor tissue.

These findings were published in the August 25th, 2010 issue of Science Translational Medicine.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help 75 to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

US organ donor saves life of Irish man

By APRIL DREW , Irish Voice Reporter

If it wasn't for an organ donation from an American a 28-year old Irish man believes he would have died of heart failure.

Alan Judge, an outdoor sports fanatic, was diagnosed with a heart condition eight years ago that could have led to his death.

Just after diagnosis Judge was given a donated human aortic valve that saved his life from a donor in the U.S.

"That valve, called an Dacron Tube aorta, had to be sourced from America to save my life as there were not enough suitable donors in Ireland at the time," said Alan, a native of Allan, Co Kildare.

Judge, who was born prematurely causing all sorts of problems, did a lot of research before undergoing the life-saving surgery in 2002 in Dublin.

An article that appeared in the Herald a few weeks ago about organ donation prompted Judge to tell his story.

The article stated that "some 261 life-changing organ transplants took place in Irish hospitals last year, but the demand for organs still greatly outnumbers suitable donors available."

It went on to say "more than 600 people are on the various organ transplant waiting lists today."

Judge, president of the student union body at a college in Co. Galway, is now asking students throughout the country to consider organ donation. He is also hoping that the Union of Students in Ireland will adopt organ donation as it's national charity. He intends to bring up the matter at this coming weekends national council in Co. Waterford.

"I want to raise the awareness of organ donation. It's a vitally important issue for many people," he said.

In an attempt to bring the issue to light, Judge has vowed to visit every campus to tell students if it hadn't been for a U.S. donor he wouldn't be alive today.

"We won't be asking people to give us your money, only your organs," he joked.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help 75 to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Missouri boy youngest in world to use artificial lung

This "bridge to transplant" was first used in North America by doctors at Toronto General Hospital in 2007 and since then has saved many lives in other parts of the world.

Credit: St. Louis Children's Hospital

kmov.com
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- When 2-year-old Owen Stark arrived at St. Louis Children's Hospital, he wasn't given much chance for survival. The little boy had collapsed at a store and his heart and lungs were shutting down.

But doctors used a German-built artificial lung that stabilized him so well that, at least for now, he no longer needs a lung transplant. The hospital said Owen is believed to be the youngest person to receive an artificial lung.

"I don't think there's any question it saved his life," Dr. Mark Grady, a pediatric cardiologist at St. Louis Children's Hospital, said Wednesday.

Owen's parents had noticed some signs their child wasn't healthy. He wasn't eating much and had a low-grade fever, said his father, Justin Stark, a 30-year-old construction company owner. Doctors in their hometown of Eldon, Mo., thought at first he had a bad cold, or maybe a kidney disorder.

Owen had just been to yet another doctor's visit with his mom, Tonya, when he collapsed June 10 at a Toys R Us in Jefferson City. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Columbia, then flown to St. Louis Children's.

"I believe he flat-lined several times when he first got here," Justin Stark said. "It's about the worst experience I could ever imagine going through."

Doctors determined Owen had idiopathic pulmonary hypertension, or high blood pressure in the lungs. The disease is very rare and almost unheard of in young children.

Grady said Owen was given little chance of survival without a lung transplant. Problem was he needed one immediately and the process can take months.

Owen was placed on a heart-lung bypass machine called ECMO, but after about two weeks it can cause organ damage and leave a child ineligible for a transplant. So the hospital's transplant team, led by Dr. Charles Huddleston, petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to use a Berlin-made artificial lung device called NovalungsLA.

The device is used in Europe and Canada, Grady said, but not FDA-approved in the U.S. However, the FDA granted a "compassionate release use," essentially special permission.

Doctors had hoped the device would buy time while they waited for a lung to become available. They were shocked to see how well the boy recovered while on the artificial lung. In fact, Owen's lung function has improved so much he is no longer on the transplant list.

"Absolutely amazing," Stark said. "He had no other options at that point. It was either going to work or that was it."

There have been complications. Owen suffered a stroke about three weeks after the artificial lung was put into use. It was removed, and he is undergoing therapy. The family sees improvement each day, Stark said.

Grady said Owen may eventually need a transplant because his disease is progressive. Still, the doctor said the boy's recovery so far is nothing short of amazing.

"He's got the potential to be able to go home, which we didn't think was even possible," Grady said. If Owen continues to improve, he could leave the hospital in about a month, Grady said.

The success also shows the artificial lung can be of value to very young patients, potentially opening the way to treat even newborns, Grady said.

"There are tons of premature infants with chronic lung disease," Grady said.

Justin Stark said there is some consolation in knowing Owen's procedure could help other children in the long run.

"We would have given anything not to be the first, but it's nice to know that," he said.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)+

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help 75 to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Double lung transplant recipient wants to help others

Since I was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) ten years ago nothing much seems to have changed in treating this fatal disease. Like Ian Alexander my life was saved by a lung transplant and I am very happy to post his story and to promote efforts to advance IPF research.

Golf tournament Sept. 9 to help pulmonary fibrosis patients

By Alycia Ambroziak, The Gazette, Montreal
West Island Gazette

When Ian Alexander was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis in 2008, the Lachine resident didn’t know much about the disease.

He learned fast.

In fact, Alexander is the recipient of a double lung transplant that took place Feb. 8, 2009 and, despite some ups and downs, is well enough to play golf.

And it’s a golf tournament that the non-profit foundation his family started - The Alexander Family Foundation (TAFF) – is holding on Sept. 9 at the St. Rose Golf Club in Laval, Quebec.
Time 1:28pm to 6:00pm
Golf and supper $250
Supper only $100
Info: The Alexander Family Foundation. or call 514-637-2561.

“After a lot of determination and the support from my friendsand family… I am alive and kicking today – and wanting to help othersafflicted by this mysterious disease,” Alexander said last week.

He said there is no known cure for the disease.

“In fact, U..S. figures show that as many people die from this disease as from breast cancer,” said Alexander, 53, who owns his own building consulting business.

“Tragically, IPF patients die on waiting lists here in Quebec due to our impoverished health care system,” said Alexander who ended up having his transplant at the Toronto General Hospital.

“I was told afterwards that I had about a month to live,” he said noting that he had been asthmatic all his life, and had been diagnosed a few years ago with potential Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

“Like a lot of people, I didn’t know much about the disease,” he said, noting that Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis is a lung disorder characterized by progressive scarring, robbing victims of their ability to breathe.

Alexander became quite sick while vacationing in California in May, 2007 and when he returned, underwent tests at Hopital Notre Dame - that’s when he learned he had full-blown Idiopathjc Pulmonary Fibrosis.

“Unfortunately, once the disease became active in my system it took less than a year from requiring minor amounts of oxygen to the maximum amount I could get 24 hours a day,” Alexander said. “ There were so many trips in and out of hospital for care and treatment as well as loss of weight and appetite and the ability to get around.”

Alexander was told in 2008 he would need a double lung transplant.

“…but I was also told I was number 27 on the list and only about 20 transplants are done a year at Notre Dame,” Alexander said. “I asked my doctor what I could do and he told me to start looking around.”

After a lot of work, Alexander got into the program at the Toronto General Hospital where he received his new lungs and a second shot at life.

“Because of all of this…our family started the TAFF foundation, “he said adding that he urges everone to sign an organ donor card.. “Our mandate is to help others to survive that could not normally finance the burden of transplant or a cross-border provincial operations,” he said.

“We need help to raise funds to assist these patients…”

GREAT NEWS FOR PULMONARY FIBROSIS RESEARCH IN THE U.S.
Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) have formally introduced the bi-partisan Senate version of the PULMONARY FIBROSIS RESEARCH ENHANCEMENT ACT (S.3703) (PFREA). The PFREA was introduced on August 4, 2010, and was referred to the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee. The PFREA authorizes $16 million to establish the first national patient registry for pulmonary fibrosis (PF), establish a national PF advisory board, and call for a national PF education and awareness plan for this deadly disease. To find out how you can help get this bill passed please visit Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation.

During the 2010 National Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Week activities, to be held from September 11-18, 2010 in Washington D.C. the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF) will seek to raise awareness of pulmonary fibrosis with Members of Congress and their staffs, as well as local and national media.

"This is a critically important year for the patients, families, caregivers, and physicians affiliated with the PFF to actively participate in our advocacy efforts during Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Week", said Daniel Rose, MD, President of the PFF. "The introduction of the Pulmonary Fibrosis Research Enhancement Act (PFREA, or S. 3703) in the U.S. Senate by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) is an important step towards seeking new understanding of pulmonary fibrosis and find new treatments for this severe disease by establishing the first national patient registry." Visit PFF home page

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help 75 to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Double-lung recipient earns silver at Canadian Transplant Games

Carol Dubeau holds the silver medal she received
Photo: Brent Davis

I met Carol Dubeau several times while she was waiting for her lung transplant at Toronto General Hospital and it's amazing to see the transformation that has taken place since her transplant. I'm very pleased to post this story about her trip to The Canadian Transplant Games.

By Brent Davis Waterloo Region Record

WATERLOO, Ontario — It’s a time Carol Dubeau will never forget.

Forty-two minutes, 53 seconds.

It’s the time she took to complete a three-kilometer competitive walk in Quebec City earlier this month.

But in many ways, it’s taken a lot longer for her to cover that distance.

Just over a year ago, the 63-year-old Waterloo woman was lying in a coma in a Toronto hospital, her body struggling to accept a transplanted pair of lungs after hers were stricken with a rare type of pneumonia.

When she emerged from the five-week coma, she’d lost her muscle memory. She couldn’t walk; she could barely talk. Dubeau embarked on the long road to recovery.

By May, she was able to walk a mile (1.6 kilometers) on an indoor track. She set her sights on the Canadian Transplant Games in Quebec.

Held every two years, the games are open to any transplant recipient at any age, and include sports like tennis, track and field, swimming and golf.

Dubeau competed in the three-kilometer walk, accompanied by a woman from British Columbia whose presence provided silent encouragement.

“She was like a guardian angel on my shoulder,” Dubeau said.

While training for the event, Dubeau found she had to stop partway. During competition, she kept going, and shaved nearly 18 minutes off her previous best time. The result earned her a silver medal in her age group.

It was a testament both to her recovery and to the value of organ donation.

“I can say to donor families with a huge smile on my face — you can come this far,” Dubeau said. The games, she said, were one way for recipients to say thank you both to their own support networks and to donor families for the gifts their loved ones have given them.

Dubeau fell ill in early 2007 while she was abroad. Having suffered a serious relapse later that year, she was accepted to a transplant waiting list in March, 2008. In June, 2009, a match was found and the double-lung transplant took place at Toronto General Hospital.

Now, Dubeau is speaking out about the importance of organ donation. That gift has allowed her to watch four grandchildren grow and walk her son down the aisle. “I could have been six feet under,” she said.

And she’s looking to participate in future competitions — the Canadian Transplant Games two years from now, and possibly the Worlds next year in Sweden.

“You have a responsibility in my mind as a recipient to carry on the best possible life you can carry on with,” Dubeau said.

Scanning through the games results I saw many familiar names from the U.S. and Canada. You can view the complete US/Canada transplant games results at the following links:
U.S. Transplant Games, July 30 - Aug 4, 2010, Madison, Wisconsin.
Canadian Transplant Games, Aug 9-14, 2010, Quebec City.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network. NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help 75 to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Pioneer heart patient now needs a kidney transplant

Living heart donation is extremely rare as you can imagine. When a patient receives a heart-lung transplant from a deceased donor, his or her healthy heart may be given to an individual waiting for a heart transplant.

from this is Derbyshire
A PATIENT who underwent pioneering heart transplant surgery 23 years ago is now in need of a kidney.

Paul Taylor took part in the UK's first "domino" heart transplant, receiving the donation from a patient who, in turn, underwent a heart and lungs transplant.

Now Mr Taylor has been diagnosed with kidney failure and placed on the transplant waiting list.

But he remains optimistic and is delighted to be celebrating the anniversary of the 1987 operation this weekend.

The 50-year-old, of Stenson Road, Sunnyhill, said: "I look forward to the anniversary of my transplant more than my birthday.

"It feels like an achievement to get to another year.

"I set myself goals. I've seen my 50th birthday and now my next target is to watch the 2012 Olympics.

"When I first had the operation, surviving for five to ten years would have been great."

Mr Taylor takes medication to stop his body rejecting the transplant.

He says it is possible this has affected his kidneys over the years, causing them to fail.

Since May, he has been visiting Royal Derby Hospital three times a week for dialysis to remove toxins from his blood.

He said: "I might have developed this problem anyway but the drugs haven't helped. It's not uncommon for heart transplant patients to develop problems with their kidneys over time, due to the medication."

Mr Taylor was only 27 when he was told he urgently needed a transplant.

At that time he had been married to his wife Karen for just five years and had only recently become a father to son Gareth. He became ill in April 1987, when he was struck down by a virus which caused one side of his heart to fail.

Doctors warned him that his heart was dying and that, without a new organ, he would not live to see the end of the year.

Fortunately, a donor was found in time and the operation was a success.

His new heart came from Mark Dolby, of Market Deeping, Lincolnshire, who suffered from cystic fibrosis and needed a lung transplant.

In the 1980s, it was not possible to give a lung transplant without replacing the heart as well, so Mr Dolby's healthy heart was able to save Mr Taylor's life. The pair are still in contact.

The first UK heart transplant took place in 1968.

To sign the national organ donor register, visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk or call 0300 123 2323.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network. NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help 75 to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Kidneys from cardiac-death patients perform as well as those from brain-dead patients

This news from the UK could mean more organs would be available for those who need them

Physorg.com

The number of people on the kidney transplant waiting list in the UK continues to increase with over 7000 patients currently waiting for transplant and only 1600 kidney transplants performed from deceased donors each year. Until recently, most donated kidneys came from donors who were brain dead—meaning people whose hearts were still beating but had suffered brain-stem death. However the number of these donors has fallen over the last decade, probably due to improvements in the treatment of head injuries and a reduction in deaths on the road. As a result there has been a corresponding surge in the number of cardiac-death donors (non-beating heart donors), rising from 3% of all donations in 2000 to 32% in 2009.

Concerns have been raised that kidneys transplanted from cardiac death donors do not perform as well as those from brain-dead donors; but an Article published Online First in The Lancet concludes that the two types of transplant are equivalent. Furthermore, cardiac-death donor kidneys, which fall outside of the UK's national allocation policy (they are currently distributed locally), should now be treated in the same way as kidneys from brain-dead donors.

Kidneys donated in either fashion acquire some degree of injury—for brain-death, there are substantial hormonal and metabolic changes, while for cardiac-death the kidneys suffer warm ischaemia (injury caused when the organs are deprived of a blood supply, before being cooled to minimise the damage) between the heart stopping and the kidneys being flushed with cold preservation solution. In the UK, most cardiac-death donors are controlled donors, who have suffered massive irreversible brain injury but do not fulfil the criteria for brain-stem death. Death is certified by when the heart stops beating after a decision to withdraw life support.

In this study, Professor J Andrew Bradley, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK, and colleagues looked at outcomes for kidneys after controlled cardiac death versus brain death, and aimed to identify factors affecting graft survival and function. They used data from the UK transplant registry to select a cohort of deceased kidney donors and the corresponding transplant recipients (aged ≥18 years) for transplants done between Jan 1, 2000, and Dec 31, 2007.

A total of 9134 kidney transplants were done in 23 centres; 8289 kidneys were donated after brain death and 845 after controlled cardiac death. First-time recipients of kidneys from cardiac-death donors (n=739) or brain-death donors (n=6759) showed no difference in graft survival up to 5 years, or in kidney function (filtration rate) at 1 to 5 years after transplantation. For recipients of kidneys from cardiac-death donors, increasing age of donor and recipient, repeat transplantation, and cold ischaemic time of more than 12 h were associated with worse graft survival; grafts from cardiac-death donors that were poorly matched for HLA (a blood antigen) had a non-statistically significant association with inferior outcome, and delayed graft function and warm ischaemic time had no effect on outcome.

The authors say: "The shortage of donor organs remains one of the key challenges faced by the international transplant community. In view of our findings, cardiac-death donors represent an extremely important and overlooked source of high-quality donor kidneys for transplantation and have the potential to increase markedly the number of kidney transplants performed in the UK."

They also point out that allocation policy for kidneys from brain-death donors aims to ensure equity of access to donor kidneys irrespective of the geographical location of those on the waiting list, to ensure good tissue matching for those in whom it matters most, to favour those who have waited longest, and to avoid large disparities in age between donor and recipient. In view of their findings, the authors suggest that a similar policy should be considered for kidneys from cardiac-death donors, ie, the findings strengthen the case for a national sharing scheme. (See notes to editors below).

They conclude: "Kidneys from controlled cardiac-death donors provide a good outcome in terms of both graft survival and graft function in first-time recipients and should be regarded as equivalent to kidneys from brain-death donors. The factors shown to affect transplant outcome for kidneys from cardiac-death donors will help to guide clinical decision-making and inform future allocation policy."

In an accompanying comment, Professor Sir Peter J Morris, Centre for Evidence in Transplantation, Royal College of Surgeons of England and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK, says: "Today's report is an important contribution to the problem of increasing the supply of donor kidneys for transplantation. The results are persuasive that the use of controlled cardiac-death donors is an acceptable practice. More importantly, potential recipients of kidneys from cardiac-death donors can be reassured that their transplant outcome is not jeopardized by the source of the kidney."
Provided by Lancet

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network. NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help 75 to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Heart and double lung transplant recipient won seven medals at Canadian Transplant Games

Mark Black won seven medals at the Canadian Transplant Games in Quebec City.

Photo: Greg Agnew/Times & Transcript

By Mike Sandrson, Times & Transcript

Moncton, New Brunswick athlete, speaker and life coach Mark Black proves that there is always a second chance to do what you love.

Last week, Black added to his amazing story by competing in the 2010 Canadian Transplant Games in Quebec City. He brought home seven medals over the week-long event.

Black took gold in the 100-metre breaststroke and Petanque (variation of bocci), silver in the 50m breaststroke, 5,000m run and the 800m run and bronze in golf for both his gross and net scores.

The medal count is more remarkable when you consider that he wasn't supposed to live past his 25th birthday, let alone compete as an athlete nationally.

Black, now 32, was born with a life-threatening heart defect and had two open-heart surgeries before he turned one. After this, it seemed like he could handle the problems, and he could live a normal life.

"In May 2001, I wasn't feeling well and had lost some weight," he said. "I went in to see my family doctor and he was immediately very concerned. He had me transported by ambulance to Halifax where I was evaluated by the transplant team there.

"I ended up staying there for a month and finally was told by the head cardiologist that my only hope was a dangerous and risky heart and double-lung transplant."

At 23 years old, Black's heart was failing badly. He was told by doctors that he wouldn't make it to his 25th birthday. He opted for surgery, and was put on a waiting list for a new heart and lungs.

After waiting for almost a year, he finally got his wish and doctors in Toronto performed the operation.

Black fully recovered from the operation. He decided that he would live his new life to the fullest. That led to marathon-running. "There was a day about a week post-transplant when I decided that I wanted to run a marathon," he said.

"To me, running a marathon was the ultimate demonstration of health and fitness. Once I jogged on the treadmill for the first time in physio, I knew that my body was capable of things that it hadn't done in a very long time. That got me excited at the possibilities."

With his new lease on life, Black decided to tell others his story.

He figured his story could help motivate others to do great things.

Now, Black not only is an athlete, but he also speaks at functions "all across Canada - from St. John's to Vancouver - and some in the United States." He is also a life coach, guiding people to set their personal and professional goals and sticking with them.

Black's main purpose for speaking is to raise awareness of transplants.

"It's important the we talk with our families about organ donation so that if, God forbid, something happens to us, our families will know what we want to happen."

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network. NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help 75 to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Muslims reluctant organ donors

Confusion exists over whether practice is compatible with Islamic beliefs

By Pamela Fayerman, Vancouver Sun

Of all religious groups, Muslims are the most resistant to organ donation, largely because they're confused about whether it's permitted within their faith, a British medical expert told delegates to an international transplantation conference in Vancouver Tuesday.

Dr. Adnan Sharif, a Muslim kidney specialist completing his training, led an international survey to find out why Muslims agree with organ donation, and would happily accept a transplant, but aren't so keen on consenting to being donors.

In his presentation to delegates at the 23rd international congress of the Transplantation Society, Sharif said nearly three-quarters of the 891 participants in the survey said they would be glad to receive an organ if needed but only 10.6 per cent of respondents were registered organ donors.

In an interview after his talk, Sharif said just over a third believed it was compatible with their Islamic beliefs. For the others, the two biggest reasons cited for being reluctant to donate was their interpretation of the Koran and the advice they heard from spiritual leaders at their local mosques.

Sharif said he has long been curious about the issue, especially because he often finds himself having to tell Muslim patients needing organ transplants that they'll have to wait twice as long as others, largely because there are far too few donors with similar ethnicity who would be good tissue matches. He said he caused a bit of a stir in his own family when he announced he was a registered organ donor. His parents and three brothers have not followed suit but they are at least "open" to the idea.

"Muslims have this argument, this belief, that organ donation is a sin even though most scholars say it's okay, and in fact welcome, because of the belief that to save one life is to save all humanity.

"Transplantation obviously did not exist when the Koran was written. There is a line that says you shouldn't deface the human body. It is a reference to ancient Arab practices of defacing bodies after death. I think people do use that as an excuse not to be organ donors," said Sharif, who conducted the survey with four colleagues from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England.

Muslim apprehension around organ donation appears to be due to conflicting messages from Islamic leaders. "One of the problems with Islam is that there is no central authority, no one body that speaks with one voice so people make their minds up based on various interpretations.

"We found in our survey that the older and more religious you are, the less likely you are to agree to be an organ donor. As well, people of Arab ethnicity are more favourable towards organ donation than people who are Indo-Asians."

While theological confusion appears to be the main reason for the Muslim aversion to organ donation, Sharif said lack of awareness is another huge problem and more needs to be done to engage with the Muslim population to encourage donation.

"The next step has to be aggressive education. But as health professionals, to maintain our credibility, we have to accept there is a debate and leave it to individuals' personal judgment."

The online and printed survey, which solicited respondents through word of mouth, social networking, Muslim organizations and mosques, is expected to be published in a medical journal soon. He said the survey detected some disturbing attitudes that would appear to be based on prejudice. For instance, almost a quarter of respondents said they would only want to donate an organ if they knew it was going to another Muslim. About 10 per cent said they would prefer to receive an organ from a fellow Muslim.

"It's a help-your-own kind of attitude, but to direct an organ to a certain individual is not only unethical, but illegal."

Sharif said that for the past several years, transplant experts have taken a tread-softly approach in order to be politically correct about cultural and religious sensitivities. But he believes it is time to change strategies and be more blunt and forceful.

"We need to target opinion leaders, and those with influence. I'm not sure we'll win this argument, but it's time we took a new approach."

Mohammad Shujaat Ali, the imam at the Masjid Alhaq mosque in Vancouver, said he agrees more could be done if there is any confusion among Muslims regarding donating blood, tissues and organs.

He said he would be willing to be an organ donor himself because of the principle that saving a life is akin to saving humanity.

Those contemplating donation can do so if they satisfy certain conditions: the prospective donor must be convinced by a doctor that the donation will be a life-saving benefit to the recipient, a donor must be assured that his or her health will not suffer as a result of being a donor and no money will ever be exchanged.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network. NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help 75 to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Those seeking black market organs put others at risk

By Pamela Fayerman Vancouver Sun

VANCOUVER — Black market organ transplants put all Canadians at risk, experts say.

The 20 or so desperate Canadians who travel to other countries for the risky procedure each year could contract antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections and bring it back to North America, the researchers say.

With 5,000 delegates attending the 23rd International Congress of The Transplantation Society in Vancouver this week, four experts discussed the many pitfalls of transplant tourism in a panel discussion Monday.

Besides the dire consequences to the health of organ recipients and the public health hazard from new forms of antibiotic-resistant infections, the experts are also concerned about the exploitation of the world's most impoverished people who donate organs to get money.

Dr. Graham Sher, chief executive officer of Canadian Blood Services, said the most recent data he has seen shows that 215 Canadians sought transplants outside Canada from 1995 to 2004.

It is not known how many clandestine transplant operations are being performed in countries including China, India and Pakistan, but medical tourism is believed to be a small industry relative to the 100,000 legitimate transplants performed throughout the world each year.

Yet the consequences of even a small underground industry are grave, experts say.

Dr. Francis Delmonico, a Harvard transplant surgeon and director of medical affairs for The Transplantation Society, said University of Toronto research shows the dire consequences for medical tourists.

The study, led by Dr. Ramesh Prasad, showed that black market kidneys can result in far higher surgical complications, infections, transplant failure and death.

The Prasad study looked at the outcomes of 22 Canadians who travelled to countries throughout Asia and the Middle East for kidneys.

One-third of all the patients who had transplants outside of Canada required immediate hospitalization following their return to Canada, primarily for serious infections.

Another third required eventual hospital admission.

Two patients required repeat transplants and nearly 40 per cent had drug resistant infections.

Another 14 per cent contracted tuberculosis.

In the medical journal Lancet last week, researchers showed that patients from Britain and the United States who underwent medical care in India and Pakistan returned home with gene mutation infections that were resistant to almost all antibiotics.

Earlier this summer, the Centers for Disease Control in the U.S. drew attention to the first cases of such mutations and advised doctors to watch for it in patients who had received care in South Asia.

In order to stem the number of desperate patients seeking organs outside North America, countries around the world have to do more to increase the number of donor organs, experts say.

The first organ transplant was performed in 1954 and since then, transplantation has become such a routine procedure that "we all expect to get an organ if we need one," said Dr. Luc Noel of the World Health Organization which, since 1987, has been helping countries to find ways to crack down on trafficking in human organs.

Delmonico commended Israel for passing legislation which prevents insurance companies there from paying for black market organ transplant procedures.

Canadian doctors have become the first in the world to develop an official policy in which they can refuse to treat patients bent on being medical tourists. Buying and selling livers, kidneys, hearts and other organs is illegal in Canada and throughout the world.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network. NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help 75 to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Canada lags in organ donation

By Kevin Connor and Sharon Lem, QMI Agency - Toronto Sun

TORONTO - Canada -- which is lagging behind in organ donation -- needs to look to other countries that are more successful at getting transplants, says James Bredin, a Toronto firefighter whose two children have both had heart transplants.

The need for organ donation in Canada will skyrocket by 152% over the next two decades, a study by the Canadian Blood Services says.

"We need to start doing what other countries do ... organs become property of the state and they don't need permission to take them. Even if we only did that with kidneys. Just think of all the people on dialysis that wait up to 12 years for a transplant," Bredin said.

"Things like that would work, but we need to pass new laws. My children only had to wait two weeks for a transplant, but it doesn't work like that for a lot of people."

Canada's rate of organ and tissue donation has flatlined for the past decade. The national rate (from deceased people) is 14 donors per million, which is less than half that of the best performing countries, such as Spain and the U.S., which has a rate of 32 per million.

In Ontario, there have been more donations over the past five years, said Frank Markel, president of the Trillium Gift of Life Network.

"Ontario has shown that you can increase donations. Last year in Ontario was a record year -- a 50% increase over a decade ago," he said.

Nationally there is a gap and unless we start improving, this gap will only get bigger, said Dr. Graham Sher, CEO of Canadian Blood Services.

"Canadians are surprised to hear that the wait lists differ across the country and they expect more equal access to organs no matter where one lives," he said.

The majority of Canadians have either made the decision to donate, or are open to it, but few have taken action to register, according to a poll of 1,500 adults.

A report with recommendations to change the system will be presented to provincial, territorial and federal governments by early next year at the latest, Sher said.

He is meeting in Vancouver with the Canadian Society of Transplantation Friday and with the International Transplant Society over the weekend.

There are more than 4,000 Canadians waiting for organ transplants and every 1O days, one of them dies.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network. NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help 75 to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

International Travel Increasing Spread of New Drug-Resistant Bacteria

Hopefully this news will help to stem the spread of "transplant tourism" and the exploitation of poor, uneducated people who are convinced to sell one of their kidneys, for example, to provide for their families. Foreign transplants may be compromised by poor organ matching, unhealthy donors, and post-transplant infections, while some transplant centers abroad may use substandard surgical techniques. This new super-bug makes matters even worse.

Doctor's Guide
NEW YORK -- August 10, 2010 -- A new gene -- New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM) 1 -- that enables bacteria to be highly resistant to almost all antibiotics is widespread in Enterobacteriaceae taken from patients in India and Pakistan, and has also been found in UK patients who travelled to India for elective surgery, according to a study published early online and appearing in the September print edition of The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

The rapid emergence of these multi-drug resistant NDM-1 producing bacteria and their potential worldwide spread could herald a period in which antibiotics become redundant and demands very close international monitoring and surveillance.

In 2009, Timothy Walsh, MD, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom, and international colleagues first identified the NDM-1 gene in Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli bacteria taken from a Swedish patient admitted to hospital in India. Worryingly, NDM-1-producing bacteria are resistant to many antibiotics including carbapenems.

In this study, the authors investigated how common the NDM-1 producing antibiotic resistant bacteria are in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan and the importation of these bacteria into the UK via patients returning from these countries.

The researchers collected bacteria samples from patients presenting with various hospital and community-associated infections in Chennai and Haryana in India, and from patients referred to the UK's national reference laboratory between 2007 and 2009. Samples were tested for antibiotic susceptibility and the presence of the NDM-1 gene using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing.

They identified 44 (1.5%) NDM-1-positive bacteria in Chennai, 26 (8%) in Haryana, 37 in the UK, and 73 in other sites in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. NDM-1 was mostly found in E coli (36), the most common cause of community-associated urinary tract infections, and K pneumoniae (111).

The NDM-1-producing bacteria were highly resistant to all antibiotics except tigecycline and colistin. In some cases, isolates were resistant to all antibiotics.

Importantly, the NDM-1 gene was found to be present on plasmids, suggesting "an alarming potential to spread and diversify among bacterial populations."

The authors said that the emergence of NDM-1 positive bacteria is potentially a serious global public health problem as there are few new anti-Gram-negative antibiotics in development and none that are effective against NDM-1. Consequently, we are facing a period in which antibiotics become redundant. "Even more disturbing is that most of the India isolates from Chennai and Haryana were from community-acquired infections, suggesting that NDM-1 is widespread in the environment," the authors wrote.

They concluded by pointing out that several of the UK NDM-1 positive patients had travelled to India or Pakistan for surgical procedures (including cosmetic) within the past year. "India also provides cosmetic surgery for other Europeans and Americans, and it is likely NDM-1 will spread worldwide," they said.

In an accompanying comment, Johann Pitout, MD, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, warned that patients who have medical procedures in India should be screened for multiresistant bacteria before they receive care in their home country: "If this emerging public health threat is ignored, sooner or later the medical community could be confronted with carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae that cause common infections, resulting in treatment failures with substantial increases in health-care costs."

SOURCE: The Lancet Infectious Diseases

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network. NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help 75 to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Revolutionizing Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation

I am pleased to publish this guest post by Susan White.

Organ donation has helped save hundreds of thousands of lives; come to think of it, it’s a sort of irony when you consider that when one life is lost, many others could potentially be saved because their organs and tissue can be harvested and transplanted into the bodies of people who would otherwise die. The biggest problem with achieving success in organ donation is that it is very difficult to preserve the organ and keep it “alive” until it can be transplanted into the recipient’s body. Earlier, all organs were harvested from non-heart beating donors. But a few decades ago, it was found that donors who were brain-stem dead provided the best organs because they had oxygenated blood which protected them until they could be cooled.

Now however, another breakthrough in this discipline has ensured that more lives can be saved – scientists at the Sunderland University have been instrumental in pioneering a procedure that allows doctors to cool organs so that they can be preserved for patients waiting for a transplant. This procedure will hopefully reduce the large gap between the demand for and the supply of organs in the donor pool because it allows organs from non-heart beating (NHB) donors to be harvested and successfully transplanted into those who need them. Before the advent of this technique, it was almost impossible to find organs from NHB donors because they (the organs) which are starved of oxygen may be damaged and so, unsuitable for transplantation.

However, the research that is currently being undertaken at the Sunderland University shows that when organs from NHB donors are cooled rapidly, the damage is minimized and the organs are preserved in good condition, allowing them to be transplanted into patients with a reasonable chance of success. Based on this, new medical devices are being developed to cool the organs rapidly. They minimize damage to the tissue and help regenerate it until the organ can start working again and be transplanted into the recipient. Also, various teams are collaborating on finding the right anti-inflammatory drug to assist the cooling of the organ.

This finding will no doubt revolutionize organ donation and transplantation; with more donor organs being made viable for transplant, more lives can be saved.

By-line:

This article is contributed by Susan White, who regularly writes on the subject of surgical technician schools. She invites your questions, comments at her email address: susan.white33@gmail.com

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network. NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help 75 to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Woman whose lungs collapsed 15 times wins gold at transplant games

Justine is thrilled by her haul of medals from the European Heart and Lung Transplant Games which were held in Sweden
and will compete in British Transplant Games in August

By Daily Mail Reporter at daily mail online

A former fitness instructor who defied death after a one-in-a-million lung disease put her in a coma, has gone on to win gold at an international sports event.

Justine Laymond battled back from the brink after her lungs collapsed 15 TIMES.

She became a track and field star after receiving a life-saving double lung transplant.

Justine took home six medals at the European Heart and Lung Transplant Games last month.

She also competed in the badminton, squash, as well as sprinting, long jump and the relay. And now she plans to compete all over again this month.

She said: 'I used to be really into fitness and I worked in a gym. It was awful to know that my body was wasting away and there was nothing I could do.

'By July when I had my transplant I was close to death. I had nothing left to give and doctors were amazed that I had survived so long.

'The double lung transplant could not have come soon enough for me. But after the operation the difference I felt in myself was incredible. For the first time in several years I could breathe without effort.

'It took me a while to get back to peak fitness but now I feel on top of the world.

'I'm really proud of my achievements and especially my gold medal. I can't wait for the next contest.'

The feisty 37-year-old started to have problems with her lungs when she was 21 and suffered two lung collapses in her early twenties.

It took ten years and a further lung collapse before doctors diagnosed the incredibly rare condition Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) in 2005.

Soon after the diagnosis Justine took a turn for the worse. Within just eight months her left lung collapsed a further 13 times.

Eventually Justine was hospitalized for six months in February 2006 while she waited for a transplant.

Unable to eat, walk, drink or eat, her body was deteriorating fast. She was on oxygen 24 hours a day and was put into a coma for three weeks.

Finally, in July 2006, Justine received a new pair of lungs from a donor and has been rebuilding her life ever since.

Her journey back to health culminated in her bringing home gold for Britain in the European Heart and Lung Transplant Games which were held in Sweden.

Justine said: 'I know because of my illness I can't take life for granted. I've been on such a rollercoaster journey and I now I try and live every day to the fullest.

'I started to have certain symptoms when I was around 20 years old. But at the time I had no idea that there was anything seriously wrong.

'It wasn't until my left lung collapsed in April 2005 that I had a CT scan. I expected that something was seriously wrong, but nothing could have prepared me for what I was told.

I was told that I was in the 'end stage' of the disease Lymphangioleiomyomatosis, and my world just fell apart.

'I listened in disbelief as the doctors told me that my right lung had completely failed and my left lung only had about 30 per cent lung capacity.

'I was in an incredibly dark place and that time still haunts me to this day. I knew I had to stay alive though- I never gave up.'

Now Justine's future looks bright with a number of planned athletic events.

She said: 'I'll be competing in the British Transplant Games in August playing squash, as well as sprinting, badminton, long jump and the relay. I can't believe how far I've come.'

LAM is an extremely rare condition that affects around one person in a million.

The disease affects a certain type of muscle cell and only occurs in women. Just 60 people in the UK are known to have it.

The condition causes an overgrowth of a certain types of cell. This overgrowth occurs around the airways and also around the blood vessels and the lymph vessels, which usually drain excess fluids from the lungs.

The cells lead to cysts developing in the lung which can be detected by taking a CT scan of the lung.

For more information visit the LAM Action website

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