Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 2 May 2002 — Page 19

The Muncie limes - ivlay 02, 2002 • Page 19

Organ Donors Save Lives

A mother sits wanting. A father lies waiting. Both are in search of hope. For one, certain hope fades as she is told her child will play no more. For the other, hope hinges on the second by second tick of the clock. But as one life ends another can begin again because of a donated organ. Tissue and eye donation are both life altering and life saving. Donated skin helps burn patients heal. Donated bone provides renewed structural integrity to the spine and joints, or in some cases, replaces diseased bone to prevent the loss of the limb. Heart valves restore function in critically ill children and adults. Donated corneas can bring light into a world of darkness. All are the generous gifts of others. Statistics continue to reveal a public health problem that is out of balance. Every hour, at least four people are added to the nation’s transplant waiting list. Each day, an average of 17 people die while waiting for the gift of life. The waiting list for all organs in 1998 was just under 66.000. Since then it has expanded by 20 percent with nearly 80,000 people in the United States waiting today. (Seven hundred fifty are waiting in Indiana.) The organ donation process is medically complex and those complexities are exaggerated by the fact that the number of potential donor patients is typically very small. For example, only about 300 Hoosiers each year die from brain trauma or severe brain insults n conditions that could possibly lead to organ donation. That potential is reduced by as much as half because of underlying medical conditions. For those potential donor patients that remain, their numbers are often reduced when families decline to allow donation to proceed. But in Indiana, things are beginning to change. One example, the state’s Donor Choice Law, is making a life-saving difference. This law supports the individual’s right to donate organs, tissues and eyes and prevents family members from changing that wish. But for this to come about your wish must be on your Indiana driver’s license.

As a result of the Donor Choice law, 32 patients became donors based on their wishes, and 95 life-saving organs have been transplanted since July 1. These patients families said that had it not been for Donor Choice, they would have declined to donate the gift of life. When there is no wish indicated on the driver’s license we always ask the family for consent to donate. Last year Indiana Organ Procurement Organization (IOPO) worked with 101 organ donors with 373 organs transplanted. Indiana's average number of organs transplanted per donor is among the highest in the nation. Other changes coming to Indiana include a new organ donor registry, being developed now to help expand the access of information about the personal donation wishes of Hoosiers. IOPO is also currently researching new techniques to extend the medical viability of hearts and lungs, to ensure that more of these critical organs are available for transplantation. And we’re bringing important information to physicians and hospitals about the uses of implanted tissues, to ensure the highest level of safety and effectiveness. The one universal factor in advancing donation and transplantation is simply to make your wish to be a donor known. Please be sure the little red heart aopears on your Indiana driver’s license. Share your decision and convictions about donation with your family to help them understand your desires. Think about the life and health benefits you, a family member or friend would receive from a life saving organ, tissue cornea transplant. April 21 to 27 was Donor Decision Week in Indiana and across our nation. So as you live life, you can give life. Make the choice to be a donor. To receive a free donor decision kit, simply call toll free, 1-888-ASK-IOPO or visit www.iopo.org. Lynn Driver President/CEO Indiana Organ Procurement Organization A NONPROFIT HEALTH SERVICE

Vasilis lyfekris, M.D., P.C. Diseases and Surgery of the Eye 288-1935 3300 W Purdue Avenue

Dr. Makris answers your questions

Q: X have beard that vitamins can. prorait cataracts. Is that -true?

Pi A recart study has shown that vvoren who take vitamin C in large doses had a Icwar cataract rate than waren Wx> did not. Ihis stud/ looked at warm who had bear taking vitamin supplarents for at least 10 years, and shewed benefit mostly for voten between 50 and 60 years of age. In oentrast, women who were over 60 and up to 75 years old did not appear to benefit from taking vitamins. Vitamins, hewever, have bran positively linked with another disease, age-related macular degeneration, and the progression rate for that disease seems to be slcwer for patients who take certain vitamin supplements.

Fbr infarmticn cn various eye ocnditiois, as well as infomaticn cn the latest advancermts in surgical techniques, tune in Or. thkris weekly television stow. You and Youur Eyes, on Mjneie Public Access Channel 42, Sundays at 6:00 IM and Wednesdays at 4:00 EM.

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