Kidney Donation Hindered By Obesity

Too fat to donate.

Researchers at the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine and Feinstein Institute for Medical Research conducted a retrospective analysis which found that morbid obesity impedes kidney donation. In fact, in the analysis of 104 potential living kidney donors, 23 (22 percent) donors were classified as morbidly obese, only three (13 percent) of whom were able to successfully lose weight and donate their kidney. This data was presented at the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) 2012 Spring Clinical Meetings, being held from May 9-13 in Washington, DC.

Morbidly obese patients are generally excluded as organ donors given their increased risk for complications during operation and the development of chronic conditions linked to obesity (i.e., type 2 diabetes, heart disease, etc.). Researchers conducted this study to determine how often obesity is the reason for unsuccessful donation of organs, and further analyze how often morbidly obese patients successfully lose weight and are able to be donors.

"This study suggests that morbid obesity is a barrier to kidney donation, and even though morbidly obese patients reported that they were trying to lose weight through diet and lifestyle modifications, they were largely unsuccessful at losing the weight and becoming donation candidates," said Mala Sachdeva, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine and researcher at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research.

Become adipose donors.