Have you considered being a living organ donor?

What do the kidney and liver have in common? Both organs can be donated from a living person.

About 6,500 living organ donations take place each year, according to the Health Resources & Services Administration.

“Renal failure is such a common problem that the need for transplantable organs outpaces their availability,” says Dr. Daniel O’Brien, a kidney and liver transplant general surgeon at Advocate Health Care. “This is why living donors are essential in the treatment of kidney disease.”

The body only needs one kidney to function, so it’s possible to be a living kidney donor and live a healthy life. Following a donation, the donor’s remaining kidney will grow and adjust to the work of filtering more blood.

When someone wants to donate a kidney to a loved one but are not a good match, there are organizations that can help. These programs orchestrate kidney swaps to allow a donor and recipient to swap with another pair.

Liver donation typically requires a closer anatomical match between the donor and the recipient, making living donations more challenging.

“The liver differs from the kidney in that you only have one,” Dr. O’Brien explains. “Since it’s a vital organ, the liver cannot be removed in whole.”

A living donor can donate up to two-thirds of their liver, but only once in their lifetime.

“The living donor’s remaining liver rapidly re-grows to replace the section that was removed for transplant. Likewise, the donated portion of liver will regenerate within the organ recipient during the first few weeks following the transplant,” Dr. O’Brien says.

There are many factors to consider with living organ donation and a variety of tests that are required before a match is determined.

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