Runner's World: Runners, you should sign up to be a living organ donor

“You’re more likely to become or qualify to be a living kidney donor if you are an athlete or runner because you're more likely to be healthy enough to be good enough to get through the evaluation to be a donor,” Silski told Runner’s World. “For a liver, it’s a little bit tricky and comes with slightly higher risk because you’re giving a segment or portion of your liver, and because it also has to do with your anatomy, the size of your body compared to the size of your recipient.”

A common concern among potential donors is the fear that they or a family member may need a kidney in the future when they would now only have one of their own. However, Silski told Runner’s World that donors will be prioritized on transplant waitlists if they need one in the future, and if they donated altruistically, donors can receive vouchers through the National Kidney Registry to move a family member in need ahead of the line as well.

Right now, there are more than 100,000 registrations for organ donation, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), but in 2020 only 39,036 transplants occurred.

Read the full story in Runner’s World.

Learn more about Latifa Sage Silski, MD, online.

Featured image of runners courtesy of Unsplash.