November is American Diabetes Month, so we’re going blue for #Bluevember. Learn more about this campaign and our 29 Days of Action here.
Nov. 8: Save lives by registering to become an organ donor for both transplantation as well as medical research.
Did you know that ONE person can save up to EIGHT lives by donating their organs for transplantation when they pass away? Did you also know that ONE person could save MILLIONS of lives by donating their organs and tissues for medical research? An untold number of people around the world are waiting for medical breakthroughs that will lead to better treatments or even cures for diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, asthma, hepatitis, and so many more. Researchers are making great strides in the fight against these debilitating and often deadly diseases by studying donated human tissue in order to better understand how these human diseases develop, which can offer far greater insight than studying the same diseases in animals such as mice.
nPOD, the Network for Pancreatic Organ Donors with Diabetes, is one such organization. With a home at the University of Florida, nPOD is working to put an end to Type 1 Diabetes by studying the human pancreas and related organ and tissues; this, by trying to understand the early disease process and to answer fundamental questions about the processes that leads to the disease. nPOD works with Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) from across the United States to obtain human pancreas and related tissues from deceased organ donors who have made the decision to donate their organs for medical research. nPOD accepts organs from donors who are Type 1 diabetic, have markers in their blood that make them susceptible to the disease, had a pancreas transplant due to diabetes, and more…including non-diabetic donors who help researchers compare their findings to healthy pancreatic tissue. nPOD currently has samples from over 400 organ donors, which are distributed free-of-charge to approved researchers worldwide. Since its inception, nPOD has supported over 190 scientific research projects in 19 countries. Read about some of nPOD’s findings here.
Help save lives by registering to become an organ donor through ORGANIZE, then be sure to share your wishes on social media by proclaiming that you want to be a #organdonor!
Want to #Donate4aCure? If you are interested in donating your pancreas to #nPOD when you no longer need it, and in so doing help the millions of people around the world living with Type 1 Diabetes through #T1DResearch, you can read more about becoming an nPOD organ donor here.