{"id":1041,"date":"2016-11-11T16:00:13","date_gmt":"2011-11-11T16:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.edrugstore.md\/blog\/?p=1041"},"modified":"2013-07-09T18:52:31","modified_gmt":"2013-07-09T18:52:31","slug":"obese-transplants-l1111","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.edrugstore.com\/blog\/weight-loss\/obese-transplants-l1111\/","title":{"rendered":"Obese patients less likely to get transplants"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A new study shows obese patients in need of a kidney transplant are often turned down because of their weight.\u00a0 A study, done by a team of researchers at Johns Hopkins, shows a form of discrimination within a process that is supposed to be unbiased.<\/p>\n

The study<\/strong>
\nThe team revealed that morbidly obese<\/a> patients, those who on average weigh 100 pounds more than their ideal weight, are on the transplant waiting list for a median of five years.\u00a0 That is two years more than the median wait time for a patient of normal weight.\u00a0 Obese patients are 44 percent less likely than normal-weight patients to ever receive a kidney transplant, the researchers report.<\/p>\n

The problem<\/strong>
\nThe longer a patient waits for a kidney, the sicker they get. Johns Hopkins transplant surgeon Dorry Segev, M.D., who led the study, suggests obese patients are turned down because they have a lower success rate.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing overweight should not be a disqualifying and discriminating factor against these patients,\u201d Segev says.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cPatients understandably believe that being placed on the transplant waiting list is an implicit promise of fair, unbiased treatment under a transparent allocation scheme,\u201d Segev says. \u201cUnfortunately, the system that has been established nationally may not be living up to that promise.\u201d<\/p>\n

A potential solution<\/strong>
\nAs the obesity<\/a> rates continue to rise across the country, so do the number of obese patients on the transplant waiting list.\u00a0 The number of obese patients added to the list has increased by more than 200 percent from 1995 to 2005.<\/p>\n

Segev has suggested obese patients undergo gastric bypass surgery once their name is put on the list.\u00a0 This will reduce their weight and give them a chance to stabilize while waiting for an organ.\u00a0 As their weight decreases and health improves, their chances for a transplant should also increase.<\/p>\n

The Johns Hopkins study results are published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new study shows obese patients in need of a kidney transplant are often turned down because of their weight.\u00a0 A study, done by a team of researchers at Johns Hopkins, shows a form of discrimination within a process that is supposed to be unbiased. The study The team revealed that morbidly obese patients, those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_autoblog_aioseo_focus_keyphrase":"","_autoblog_aioseo_title":"","_autoblog_aioseo_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-weight-loss"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t