Should age be a consideration for organ transplants?

[phughes]

With the news of Dick Cheney getting a heart transplant, I'm seeing a debate about whether age should be a factor when deciding who gets a life-saving transplant. He apparently waited quite a while for this. Regardless of how you feel politically about this particular patient (i.e., say it was a friend), what do you think? I tend to think age should not matter.

 

[Bill.K]

I personally believe there should be an age limit, I've been alive 72 years now and I think that if there was still young under 60 or less they'll get more use out of it then me. Now, that's if it were me needing an organ. I do not know if regulations could be put in place where this could be changed, but I think that young people should have priority. Why repair a beat up out of date car when the new polished one just needs a new spark plug.

 

[lily49]

I have to agree with Bill.K on this one. I think it'd be a damn shame if a young person died on a waiting list for the sake of someone like me.

 

[JaniceM]

I don't think there should be an age limit- anyone who needs one should be eligible to have one. However, I do agree with other posters- if a youngster and an old person both needed an organ and there was only one available at the time, the kid should have priority.

 

[Butterfly]

I don't think there should be an age limit- anyone who needs one should be eligible to have one. However, I do agree with other posters- if a youngster and an old person both needed an organ and there was only one available at the time, the kid should have priority.

All things being equal, I would agree.

 

[Warrigal]

Age might no longer be an issue if the geneticists are able to make pig organs compatible for humans.

Genetically edited piglets are helping scientists take a major step on the path towards using live animal organs in humans, also known as xenotransplantation. By removing potentially harmful retroviruses found in pig DNA, the experiments are opening up the possibility of humans one day safely receiving pig organs, according to the study published in the journal Science.

The first pig-to-human organ transplants could occur within two years, geneticist Dr George Church told The New York Times.

The scientists removed porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERV) in the pigs using the CRISPR gene-editing technique.
Researchers from Harvard University and biotech startup eGenesis took cells from pigs and snipped the viral DNA from their genomes, and then cloned the edited cells. These edited cells were then developed into embryos and grown into genetically identical piglets.

The cloning process hasn't been fully perfected yet — out of the thousands of embryos transferred to 17 sows, only 15 piglets remain alive.
However they are all successfully PERV inactivated, with the oldest one at four months old. The scientists are now conducting long-term studies to see the impact of the gene editing.

The research was an "important advance" in addressing safety concerns about possible viral transmission during organ transplantation, eGenesis chief scientific officer Luhan Yang said. There are still many other hurdles to overcome before successful xenotransplantation could occur.

The next stage of research would involve more genetic changes to pigs to modify the organs, as well as more lab tests before testing in humans can occur.

More here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-11/genetically-modified-pigs-human-organ-transplantation/8796670

 

[Knight]

Maybe understanding the criteria would help. To long to post the content but it does provide insight into what takes place.

http://www.donors1.org/patient/waitinglist/

 

[JaniceM]

Age might no longer be an issue if the geneticists are able to make pig organs compatible for humans.

If they currently can't, I'm sure it won't be long.
When my father needed a heart valve transplant decades ago, he was given the choice between a standard artificial valve and a pig heart valve. He chose the former, of course.

(Although, I must admit, with his sense of humor I was never 100% sure if he was joking about this)