Donor Health Dictionary

An individual who donates his or her own blood for use in patients of compatible blood group who require transfusion.... blood donor

Use of the SEMEN of an anonymous donor to produce fertilisation in cases of INFERTILITY where the male partner has OLIGOSPERMIA or IMPOTENCE. The donor is chosen for ethnic and physiognomic similarity to the male partner and is screened for transmissible diseases

(e.g. HIV, syphilis, hepatitis, gonorrhoea, and genetic disorders). Insemination is performed at the time of ovulation by introducing the semen into the upper vagina. Semen may be fresh or have been stored frozen in liquid nitrogen. (See ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION.)... donor insemination

People who donate parts of their bodies for use in other people. Many organs and tissues can be donated – most commonly blood, but skin, corneas, kidneys, livers and hearts can all be used. Combined heart and lung transplants are being increasingly used for patients with severe lung diseases, and, if the recipients have a condition such as CYSTIC FIBROSIS in which the heart is normal, it is sometimes possible for them to receive a heart and lungs from one donor and to donate their own heart to someone else. Recent work has explored the possibility of using pancreatic transplants. Apart from blood, it is unusual for tissue to be taken from living donors. Skin, small pieces of liver, and a kidney can, in theory, be obtained from living donors, but the ETHICS of this are hotly debated and the situations under which it may be done are tightly controlled. Because transplanted organs are seen by the receiving body as ‘foreign bodies’, careful matching before transplantation is necessary to avoid rejection, and immunosuppressive drugs may be required for some time after the operation to prevent this from occurring.

There are strict regulations about how death should be diagnosed before organs can be removed for transplantation, and potential donors must satisfy the BRAIN-STEM DEATH criteria, performed twice by two doctors who are independent of the transplant team. There is a great shortage of suitable organs for donation – partly because they must be in excellent condition if the operation is to be a success. Some medical conditions or modes of death make people unsuitable as organ donors; this makes it all the more important that people should be encouraged to donate their organs. People who wish to do so can carry a special card indicating their willingness to become donors in the event of their death. These cards can be obtained from various sources, including hospitals, GPs’ surgeries and many public buildings such as libraries. In the UK, informed positive approval from the patient, or relatives, is required.

Information about becoming a blood donor can be obtained by telephoning 0845–7 711

711. Those who wish to bequeath their bodies for dissection purposes should get in touch with HM Inspector of Anatomy. Other would-be organ donors may contact the British Organ Donor Society.... donors

Blood group of people donor can receive blood from... donor’s blood group