喵咪社区

When living organ donors need to improve their health, 喵咪社区鈥檚 Donate Well Program helps them shape up.

Living organ donors give a very special gift: By donating a kidney or part of their liver while they鈥檙e still alive, these donors 鈥減rovide recipients the opportunity to get a transplant sooner and, oftentimes, when they鈥檙e healthier,鈥� says Susan C. Kim, MS, RDN, program manager of living-organ-donor nutrition and wellness for the 喵咪社区 Transplant Institute, part of 喵咪社区.  

But 鈥渉ealthy鈥� is the operative word here, for if a living donor isn鈥檛 themselves healthy, neither they nor their organ recipient has the best chance at long-term success. 

Fortunately, helping donors optimize their health is the goal of Keck Medicine鈥檚 Donate Well Program. And as Kim explains, the results pay dividends for all. She has seen it firsthand in her work with the 喵咪社区 Living-Donor Kidney Transplant Program and the 喵咪社区 Living-Donor Liver Program.

How does poor health impact organ donation? 

Nearly 75% of the U.S. population is overweight or obese, Kim says. That鈥檚 making it increasingly common for donor programs to encounter what she describes as 鈥渕arginally healthy donors.鈥� 

And their marginal health hampers donation, as evidenced by the much lower rate of living-donor transplantation compared to deceased-donor transplantation. 鈥淔or context,鈥� Kim explains, 鈥渕ore than 104,000 people 鈥� 90,000 kidney and 9,100 liver 鈥� are on a transplant waiting list, and yet there were 16,988 deceased donors enabling 41,100 transplants and 7,030 living-donor transplants in 2024, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.鈥� 

Why metabolic wellness matters for organ donation 

The problem is that overweight and obesity contribute to metabolic conditions like uncontrolled high blood pressure, prediabetes, fatty liver disease, high cholesterol and heart disease. These conditions can pose both short- and long-term health risks to the donor, who undergoes a routine but serious surgery to make their gift a reality. 

Because of this, Keck Medicine鈥檚 living-donor programs take extra care in evaluating potential donors for wellness. 鈥淲ith kidney donors,鈥� Kim explains, 鈥渙ur nephrologists carefully assess kidney function to check that it鈥檚 adequate for the recipient and, importantly, for the living donor, as well as metabolic risk factors which are a concern for the donor鈥檚 health in the future.鈥� 

For liver donations, doctors check the donor鈥檚 percentage of liver fat to see if it鈥檚 fit for donation. 鈥淎nd while most centers, including ours, accept liver donors with some excess liver fat above normal,鈥� Kim says, 鈥渨e know that if the donor improves their metabolic health, they can further improve the quality of the liver and their own health at the same time. Wins all around!鈥� 

Helping living organ donors make healthy lifestyle changes 

Unfortunately, improving metabolic health can be an uphill battle in our busy lives. After all, if it were easy, current health statistics wouldn鈥檛 be so alarming. 

The good news, Kim reiterates, is that most metabolic diseases are preventable and reversible with help from weight loss and lifestyle changes. 鈥淧eople can become better living donors and healthier overall by adhering to healthy dietary patterns and regular physical activity,鈥� she says. 

Keck Medicine鈥檚 Donate Well Program 

That鈥檚 what Keck Medicine鈥檚 Donate Well Program, the first of its kind in the country, was built to do. A personalized wellness plan, it gets donors healthy enough for organ donation, enhances their recovery and keeps them well for the long term. 

鈥淲e pair a registered dietitian with donors to provide nutrition and healthy-lifestyle education, personalized meal plans and dietary recommendations,鈥� Kim says. The plan also monitors participants鈥� body composition and offers coaching for donors who need help with time and stress management, she adds. 

鈥淢y goal is for donors to mentally and physically be at their best for surgery,鈥� Kim concludes. 鈥淚mproving health can be a confidence booster, and we want donors to go into surgery feeling strong. We鈥檙e here to support and help donors for an optimal experience.鈥� 

Second chance at donation 

鈥淥nce donors have met their weight-loss or health goals and demonstrated healthy lifestyle changes,鈥� Kim continues, 鈥渢hey can be reevaluated by the team. We鈥檝e essentially created another pathway for marginal donors that鈥檚 supported to increase their chances of success the second time around.鈥� 

And Donate Well isn鈥檛 open solely to marginal donors. 鈥淲hen living donors meet our donation criteria at the start, I still work with them to reach peak health for surgery and recovery,鈥� Kim says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 always room to improve one鈥檚 health, and we want to help all donors reach their full potential for an optimal outcome and experience.鈥� 

A real win-win for living-donor organ transplants 

That helps everyone 鈥� both the donors and the transplant patients. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 exactly the feedback we get from donors,鈥� Kim adds. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e able to help someone in need while at the same time improving their own health 鈥� something that, in many cases, they鈥檝e always wanted to do.鈥� 

And by arming donors with the tools and knowledge to maintain their newfound health, the program sets them up for a fitter future. 鈥淭his is our gift to them: the gift of good health for being selfless and amazing,鈥� Kim says. 

How to become a living organ donor 

Those interested in becoming a living donor can start by completing this on the 喵咪社区 Transplant Institute website. From there, an intake team will review the information and reach out for next steps. And remember: Living donors must be over 18 years old, should be in good physical and mental health, and cannot be pregnant, have malignant cancer or be active substance users.  

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