8.+The+First+Heart+Transplant

==A heart transplant is needed for someone who may have a damaged heart of heart disease and so their heart is replaced with a donor of a dead person. The first successful heart transplant was performed in South Africa in 1967 by Christian Barnard even though 18 days later he died because of medication. This is a major breakthrough in history because important changes in tissue typing and immunosuppressant ( drugs has allowed for further transplant to place not only for hearts but other organs as well such as livers and lungs. From then on, heart transplants have developed starting from experiments to advancing medical treatments which helps doctors to understand more about the body. This has hugely increased patients survival rates. == ==According to Mandeep Mehra, M.D., head of the Division of Cardiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, in Baltimore "In the past decade, this is truly one of the most important breakthroughs in the field of heart transplantation," said Mehra. "Now that we have a test based on analysis of the human genome, we can begin to better understand why tissue and organ rejection occurs and use that knowledge to improve individual patient outcomes."1 == ==Heart transplants are so important in the world as there is and always will be someone in need of a heart. However they can only be saved if there is a donor, which is a problem because there may be many people who may die with a heart that could be functional heart for someone else although don’t want to donate. This leaves a waiting list where patients may not receive a heart for months or year, however it depends on the urgency, finding a suitable donor or medical matching. == ==According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood institute in the United States “Approximately 3,000 people in the United States are on the waiting list for a heart transplant on any given day. About 2,000 donor hearts are available each year. Wait times vary from days to several months and will depend on a recipient's blood type and condition.” However anyone could be taken off the list for a while it they have a serious medical occasion of having a stroke, infection or even a kidney failure. It also depends as if there are two patients who are equal in medical conditions and one has been on the waiting list longer then they are more likely to get it rather than the other person. == ==It has had long lasting and widespread effects on the world because of the number of people who need a heart transplant and as there will also be people who will need a replacement. It has effected every county in one way or another wether is be donating of receiving a heart. It has saved the lives of so many people in the world, that it just shows that it is an amazing breakthrough in medical science. ==


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