There’s some comfort in knowing that we can make a serious difference for others after we’re gone.
Although some belief systems may require people to be buried with every part of themselves (which, FYI, is why you can take amputated limbs home from the hospital), being an organ donor is definitely worth considering if that doesn’t apply in your case.
However, it’s sadly also true that the more use we get out of certain parts of us, the more wear and tear they pick up along the way.
And depending on the lifestyles we lead, that wear and tear can pose a risk to their viability after we give them up.
One case in China showed a particularly powerful example of this unfortunate phenomenon.
Note that the images below are graphic.
Upon arriving at Wuxi People’s Hospital in Jiangsu, China, a 52-year-old man was declared brain dead.
As 7News reported , although he had been chain-smoking for 30 years by the time of his death, early oxygenation tests seemed promising.
And so, the body was cut open and the lungs were removed.
As you might be able to tell from their condition, however, these lungs were decidedly not suitable for any patient in need of a lung transplant.
The thirty years of smoking clearly took a toll on the man’s lungs.
As the hospital’s lead lung transplant surgeon, Doctor Chen Jingyu said , these lungs featured a heavy buildup of calcium salts and had experienced damage from bullous lung disease and pulmonary emphysema.
The damage and its sad consequences led Dr. Chen to share photos of the lungs on social media.
He used the hashtag “#jieyan,” which is Mandarin for “quit smoking” and wrote, “Many smokers in this country have lungs which look like this.
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“If you’re a heavy smoker, your lungs may not be accepted even if you choose to donate them after death,” he continued.
“Our team decided to reject these lungs for transplant. Look at these lungs – do you still have the courage to smoke?”
He went on to say that the popularity of smoking in China influences the criteria for acceptable lungs at his hospital.
Essentially, usable lungs would be too few and far between if they didn’t accept any donated from smokers. However, their standards still require that the lungs come from a patient under 60 years of age who has very recently been declared dead.
However, if lungs have minor infections and show up relatively clean on chest X-rays, they may still be worth transplanting.
If they look like the ones pictured, however, there’s no chance.
Here’s a graphic example of the difference between a smoker’s lungs and a non-smoker’s lungs.
It’s easy to see why the long-term smoker’s lungs wouldn’t be acceptable for transplant — their function is well, well below the healthy lungs’.
China can expect more difficulties with finding usable lungs for transplants, unfortunately.
According to the World Health Organization , China is home to more than 300 million smokers, almost a third of the world’s smokers. In 2009, Chinese smokers consumed about 2.3 trillion cigarettes, more than the next four top smoking countries combined.
h/t: 7News , Fox News/AsiaWire
