Transplants

Why should I have spent my life looking after myself and my liver to - when i die - have it given to a binge drinker? 
If you own a dog, and neglect/mistreat it - by law, you are not allowed to own another dog (or any animal). Why should it be any different for smokers/heavy drinkers/drug users? 


I really feel for people who have genuine medical conditions on organ donation waiting list along with people who have willing put themselves in that position....

Every year, an estimated 600 liver transplants are carried out in the UK. However, the number of people who need a liver transplant is much higher than the number of livers donated.

Consequently, deaths from liver disease remain high. In 2007, there were more than 13,000 deaths from liver disease in England and Wales.

How common is alcoholic liver disease?

Alcoholic liver disease is widespread in England.

It is estimated that:

• 90-100% of heavy drinkers have alcoholic fatty liver disease
• one in four drinkers with fatty liver disease will develop alcoholic hepatitis
• one in five drinkers with fatty liver disease will develop cirrhosis

A heavy drinker is someone who regularly exceeds the recommended weekly limit for alcohol consumption. This is 3-4 units of alcohol a day for men, and 2-3 units for women.

Women are more likely to develop alcoholic liver disease, but men are more likely to die from it, possibly because men tend to be heavier drinkers.

In 2008, there were 4,764 deaths in England and Wales due to alcoholic liver disease. Three-quarters of these were men.

Death rates linked to alcoholic liver disease have risen by over two-thirds (69%) in the last 30 years. This makes alcohol one of the most common causes of death, along with smoking and high blood pressure.

Fatty liver disease and hepatitis can develop at any age. Cirrhosis usually develops in people aged 40 or over. However, cases of cirrhosis have been reported in people of all ages, including teenagers.




And this is something we can prevent, it's a disease we are giving ourselves when there are people out there with genuine medical conditions who NEED to have liver transplants...