Myths about organ donation – What are your thoughts?
One of the primary factors that hinder people from registering as an organ/tissue donor is common misconceptions about organ/tissue donations. According to the 2010 Donate Life America/Astellas independent poll, 52% of people incorrectly believe that doctors may not try as hard to save their lives if they know they wish to be organ or tissue donors, 48% of people believe a black market exists in the U.S. for organs and tissue, and 61% of people mistakenly believe it may be possible for a brain dead person to recover from his or her injuries (Source: Donate Life California website). Other common myths suggest that organ donation disfigures the body and that donors may not be able to have an open casket funeral if they donated their bodies for organ donation. However, organ donation is a type of surgery and involves the careful and meticulous reconstruction of the donor’s body after the surgery. For more information, check out our “Our Initiative” page for more details. What do you think about the common myths surrounding organ donation? Leave your thoughts below!
Comments (4)
Hey Rhea, I am really interested in organ donation and was wondering if you could give me more insight on how they actually recreate these organs after taking it out of someone’s body?
Hi, Maggie!
That’s a great question. Here are a few examples of what doctors do to restore the body after the organs/tissues have been removed. For bone transplants, a plastic bone is inserted in the place of the actual bone so that the shape of the body can be preserved. Also, for eye donations, a plastic cap is inserted in place of the eye to maintain the appearance. I hope this answers your question!
Thanks for giving me a few examples of organ recreation! Very interesting!
Organ donation in general is a really great concept. As you mentioned in a previous blog post, I think that your idea of implementing an organ donation curriculum into Drivers’ Education is a good idea. Currently, lots of people are discouraged from being organ donors because they buy into these myths. By having a course in Drivers’ Ed. about organ donation, these myths can be cleared up for them and can make an appropriate decision.