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Should It Be Legal to Buy a Kidney?

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Should It Be Legal to Buy a Kidney?
The kidney is one of the most important organs in our body; it removes waste products from the blood by excreting them into the urine. If a person experiences kidney failure, waste products can’t pass out of the blood, which causes waste to build up in their bodies. While a patient can choose to replace their kidney with a working one, dialysis is also an option in cases of kidney shortage. Dialysis provides the same functions a kidney does. It clinically purifies the blood as a replacement for the lost kidney, by separating the particles in a liquid of the basis of differences in their ability to pass through a membrane.

There have been an increasing number of people experiencing kidney failure within these last couple of years. This could be due to the increased prevalence of diseases common to a ‘western’ lifestyle like diabetes and hypertension, leading to more chronic kidney disease and renal failure. Kidney disease is a growing problem in the United States, mainly due to unhealthy lifestyle – lack of exercise, sleep and proper diet. Over 162 million cases of common chronic diseases are reported in the US every year. The growing number of people in need of kidneys and the small supply for one is a problem many countries are still trying to address today.

Since the first kidney transplant performed over fifty years ago, it has offered the chance of life and the freedom from dialysis from thousands of people. However, demands for kidneys have always exceeded supply. Kidney shortage is prevalent due to the lack of kidney donors. Even though a person can live without one of their two kidneys, there’s still a high risk in the operation. The donor would have to avoid activities that could cause their remaining kidney to fail. The idea of losing their only kidney could be daunting for the donor. Most people would be unwilling to donate their organs to someone they know, let alone a total stranger. People who are willing to do so are usually in it for the money,

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