Lungs from pack-a-day smokers safe for transplant, study finds


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Lungs from pack-a-day smokers safe for transplant, study finds
NBC NEWS, HEALTH ^ | JoNel Aleccia, Staff Writer, NBC News

Posted on 11/11/2013 7:31:11 PM PST by carlo3b

Lungs from pack-a-day smokers safe for transplant, study finds JoNel Aleccia, Staff Writer, NBC News

Jan. 29, 2013 at 4:35 AM ET

About 13 percent of double-lung transplants in the U.S. came from donors who were heavy smokers, a new study finds.

Using lung transplants from heavy smokers may sound like a cruel joke, but a new study finds that organs taken from people who puffed a pack a day for more than 20 years are likely safe.

What’s more, the analysis of lung transplant data from the U.S. between 2005 and 2011 confirms what transplant experts say they already know: For some patients on a crowded organ waiting list, lungs from smokers are better than none.

“I think people are grateful just to have a shot at getting lungs,” said Dr. Sharven Taghavi, a cardiovascular surgical resident at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, who led the new study.

(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com …


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2ndhandsmoke; cancer; lungs; lungtransplant; pufflist; smokers; smoking


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This should be interesting.. I’m getting the popcorn ready.. 🙂

1 posted on 11/11/2013 7:31:11 PM PST by carlo3b

To: carlo3b

If you need a set of lungs badly enough to be on a transplant list, I can’t imagine there would be anything wrong with a set from someone who smoked. I would think you would take what you could get.

2 posted on 11/11/2013 7:33:30 PM PST by rlmorel (“A nation, despicable by its weakness, forfeits even the privilege of being neutral.” A. Hamilton)

To: rlmorel

I know I sure as hell would take them, no questions asked.

3 posted on 11/11/2013 7:34:20 PM PST by rlmorel (“A nation, despicable by its weakness, forfeits even the privilege of being neutral.” A. Hamilton)

To: carlo3b

“Honest Al’s Used Lung Company”

4 posted on 11/11/2013 7:34:29 PM PST by headstamp 2 (What would Scooby do?)

To: carlo3b

If I need a pair of lungs, I do not care how “bad” they are (as long as they better than mine).

That being said, lungs from a-pack-a-day smokers will mostly be need to be re-installed after a couple of years.

5 posted on 11/11/2013 7:34:49 PM PST by sagar

To: rlmorel

Ditto. As the saying goes, beggars can’t be choosers.

6 posted on 11/11/2013 7:35:13 PM PST by workerbee (The President of the United States is DOMESTIC ENEMY #1!)

To: carlo3b

Safe?

What does that mean? Maybe you won’t have cancer, but what about COPD?



Eagles Up! Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

7 posted on 11/11/2013 7:35:21 PM PST by ConorMacNessa (HM/2 USN – 3/5 Marines RVN 1969 – St. Michael the Archangel defend us in Battle!)

To: carlo3b

Beggars can’t be choosers.

8 posted on 11/11/2013 7:36:04 PM PST by dfwgator (Fire Muschamp.)

To: carlo3b

Maybe a liver from a drunk?

A brain from a Liberal?

9 posted on 11/11/2013 7:37:10 PM PST by digger48 (/)

To: carlo3b

My mother smoked for over 60 years and just before she died the doctor said that her lungs, heart, and mind were all sound. Her skin gave out and she had rheumatoid arthritis. I think she just got tired of hurting and gradually over a couple of years, quit eating.

10 posted on 11/11/2013 7:37:49 PM PST by Mercat

To: sagar

Probably not. Most smokers overestimate the lung cancer risk because it’s such a hideous way to die, but the biggest determinant in whether you will get lung cancer from smoking is a history of cancer in your family. Most smokers are actually killed by heart disease and other insidious effects of smoking that don’t necessarily impact their lungs directly.

11 posted on 11/11/2013 7:38:31 PM PST by FredZarguna (The sequel, thoroughly pointless, derivative, and boring was like all James Cameron “films.”)

To: dfwgator

Beggars can’t be choosers.

Republican beggars won’t have a choice under Obamacare

12 posted on 11/11/2013 7:38:53 PM PST by digger48 (/)

To: carlo3b

So does this mean smoking does not cause lung cancer?

13 posted on 11/11/2013 7:39:26 PM PST by funfan

To: dfwgator

It says more than that.. The hair on fire, about Second Hand Smoke is total BS!

14 posted on 11/11/2013 7:39:29 PM PST by carlo3b (RUFFLE FEATHERS, and destroy their FEATHER NEST!)

To: digger48

A brain from a Liberal?

Whoa… Not so far as that… YIKES! .. 🙂

15 posted on 11/11/2013 7:42:36 PM PST by carlo3b (RUFFLE FEATHERS, and destroy their FEATHER NEST!)

To: carlo3b

Except Kools.

16 posted on 11/11/2013 7:43:25 PM PST by MUDDOG

To: rlmorel

Lungs heal surprisingly well.

17 posted on 11/11/2013 7:43:40 PM PST by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)

To: carlo3b

First, cancer is not longer even treated as cancer,
but something for patients so afflicted ‘to enjoy’.

Second, Congress and their families, not even under
ObamaCARE, will get the ripest, youngest lungs
from the pick of their constituents.


To: digger48

“A brain from a Liberal?”

I’d rather be dead.

19 posted on 11/11/2013 7:44:57 PM PST by rockinqsranch (Dems, Libs, Socialists, call ’em what you will. They ALL have fairies livin’ in their trees.)

To: carlo3b

I smoked for over 45 years, and more than 1 pack a day. I quit and can breath just fine. No COPD, no cancer. I’d say we’ve all been sold a line of BS. Not all smokers will end up with horrible diseases. I’d certainly take the lungs of an ex-smoker if I needed to.

20 posted on 11/11/2013 7:44:58 PM PST by Just_Sue (I’m from Texas)

To: funfan

So does this mean smoking does not cause lung cancer?

It doesn’t actually explicitly say that, but it does call into question many of the studies that claim that..

21 posted on 11/11/2013 7:45:45 PM PST by carlo3b (RUFFLE FEATHERS, and destroy their FEATHER NEST!)

To: digger48

A brain from a Liberal?

That would be a great brain. It’s like buying a used car with 5 miles on it.

22 posted on 11/11/2013 7:45:55 PM PST by KarlInOhio (Everyone get online for Obamacare on 10/1. Overload the system and crash it hard!)

To: cripplecreek

They ARE pretty vascular, after all…that would make sense.

23 posted on 11/11/2013 7:46:24 PM PST by rlmorel (“A nation, despicable by its weakness, forfeits even the privilege of being neutral.” A. Hamilton)

To: carlo3b

Smokers lungs are safe for transplants….announced just as 0bama care rolls out.

24 posted on 11/11/2013 7:46:38 PM PST by Gamecock (If you have to be One,be a Big Red One.)

To: carlo3b

It depends who are transplanting those lungs into. Somebody who is younger is probably not a good choice, as the damaged lungs would hamper them through life, but it’s more justifiable for an older person or somebody who needs lungs, but their state of health is already hampered by other medical decisions.

However, by trying to make this argument, you know they want this for everybody but the very well-to-do or politically connected.

25 posted on 11/11/2013 7:50:17 PM PST by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults)

To: carlo3b

So maybe you won’t get lung cancer. Maybe you’ll only get cancer of the bladder, esophagus, parotid gland, kidney, or whatever. I sure wish my relatives didn’t have to go through that.

26 posted on 11/11/2013 7:52:23 PM PST by ladyjane

To: cripplecreek

Yes they do. They are always in a state of regeneration, like a liver. I’ve read somewhere that heavy smokers, who have quit for at least ten years, have the same general lung capacity as a non-smoker.

27 posted on 11/11/2013 7:52:32 PM PST by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults)

To: KarlInOhio

Hah…all I could think of was a paraphrase of that famous Herb Brooks saying about a hockey player with all the tools except the mind to use them…something like “You’ve got a million dollar set of legs and a ten-cent fart for a brain”

That would describe any number of liberal Hollywood starlets!

Or like that old joke about brain transplants:

In the Hospital the relatives gathered in the waiting room, where their family member lay gravely ill. Finally, the doctor came in looking tired and somber.

“I’m afraid I am the bearer of bad news,” he said as he surveyed the worried faces, “The only hope left for your loved one at this time is a brain transplant. It’s an experimental procedure, semi-risky, and you will have to pay for the brain yourselves.”

The family members sat silent as they absorbed the news. After a length of time, someone asked, “Well, how much does a brain cost?” The Doctor quickly responded, “$5000 for a liberal brain, and $200 for a conservative brain.”

One of the family members asked “Why is the liberal brain so much more money?”

“It’s just standard pricing procedure. We have to mark down the price of the conservative brains, because they’ve already been used.”

28 posted on 11/11/2013 7:54:21 PM PST by rlmorel (“A nation, despicable by its weakness, forfeits even the privilege of being neutral.” A. Hamilton)

To: funfan

So does this mean smoking does not cause lung cancer?My guess on resolving the contradiction is that smoking makes it easier to get lung cancer, but is not the actual cause. Similar to how AIDS doesn’t actually kill, it just makes it easier to get other infections.

29 posted on 11/11/2013 7:56:56 PM PST by ronnietherocket3 (Mary is understood by the heart, not study of scripture.)

To: digger48

“A brain from a Liberal?”

Let me die.

30 posted on 11/11/2013 7:59:36 PM PST by Gator113 ( Cruz, Palin and Lee speak for me, most everyone else is just noise.)

To: carlo3b

The good news is that the death panel has given you permission to get a lung. The bad news is it from a smoker.


To: Proud2BeRight

dang, its not much better than one you lost, but hey it still works.

For Sale

One Lung

Coughs, Wheezes, barely holds any air

but it works

32 posted on 11/11/2013 8:07:43 PM PST by GeronL

To: Charles Henrickson

Would you want a nicotine stained lung transplant from WILLIAM RIVERS PITT?

33 posted on 11/11/2013 8:16:13 PM PST by PJ-Comix (Liberals Can Cleanse Their Souls At The ObamaCare Confession Booth)

To: Gamecock

Smokers lungs are safe for transplants….announced just as 0bama care rolls out.

Surprise, surprise, just as homos make a new push for their tainted blood to be accepted………..


To: carlo3b

So, presumably the donors did not die of lung disease? Do you have to die in an accident to be a donor? That is to say, if you have a heart attack, can your organs be donated (other than your hear?)? I suppose if you die of cancer they are all off limits? Or maybe not, unaffected organs are OK?

35 posted on 11/11/2013 8:28:41 PM PST by jocon307

To: carlo3b

It’s all genetics. Plenty of hard core smokers out there who go through life fine. None smokers are just susceptible to the same crap that gets smokers. It’s all bs to try and control the public. I’d be more scared of these genetically engineered foods they are feeding us and the chickens were going to be getting from China thanks to the new FDA laws.

36 posted on 11/11/2013 8:30:31 PM PST by eak3

To: carlo3b

This should be interesting.. I’m getting the popcorn ready.. 🙂

LOL! I thought the same thing and only read your post before saving it for later.

37 posted on 11/11/2013 8:39:03 PM PST by VeniVidiVici (Play the ‘Knockout Game’ with someone owning a 9mm and you get what you deserve)

To: Just_Sue

My mom smoked 1-2 packs a day for more than 40 years. Switched to cigars (doesn’t inhale) and the doc said that her lungs are perfect. She sent her to a pulmonologist and they did a ton of tests. She’s fine.

38 posted on 11/11/2013 8:40:38 PM PST by Marie (When are they going to take back Obama’s peace prize?)

To: carlo3b

Falls under the category of “beggars can’t be choosers.”

39 posted on 11/11/2013 9:05:38 PM PST by PGR88

To: carlo3b

Smoke your way to good health! Yeah. Works for me.

40 posted on 11/11/2013 9:08:05 PM PST by jmacusa (I don’t think so, but I doubt it.)

To: rlmorel

Over the years, smoking has been vilified and denigrated ad nauseum.

And lost in all the hoopla is one simple and revealing fact.

Worldwide, lung cancer is the number one cancer killer.
For smokers AND NON SMOKERS ALIKE!!!

41 posted on 11/11/2013 9:11:08 PM PST by djf (Global warming is turning out to be a bunch of hot air!!)

To: carlo3b

It says more than that.. The hair on fire, about Second Hand Smoke is total BS!

We have a smoke nazi on FR who will be along shortly to disagree with you. I won’t bother to name him, most people on this thread know who he is. – a liberal, disguised as a FReeper.

42 posted on 11/11/2013 9:14:55 PM PST by Graybeard58 (_.. ._. .. _. _._ __ ___ ._. . ___ …_ ._ ._.. _ .. _. .)

To: Just_Sue

I smoked for over 45 years, and more than 1 pack a day. I quit and can breath just fine. No COPD, no cancer.

50 years for me, same results.

I just finally decided to quit, so I did – 5 years ago.

43 posted on 11/11/2013 9:17:13 PM PST by Graybeard58 (_.. ._. .. _. _._ __ ___ ._. . ___ …_ ._ ._.. _ .. _. .)

But does the recipient need to start or continue smoking to live?

44 posted on 11/11/2013 9:21:16 PM PST by Gene Eric (Don’t be a statist!)

To: Graybeard58

My grandpa smoked those roll yer own (bag of tobacco in his chest pocket) and died of prostate cancer at age 87…so there’s that aspect. Lung cancer happens but not just to smokers so smoke it up and enjoy life.

45 posted on 11/11/2013 9:37:40 PM PST by JouleZ (You are the company you keep.)

To: Just_Sue

It is all a divide and conquer scam to tax the crap out of a certain segment of society.

Kinda like Obamacare.

46 posted on 11/11/2013 10:30:46 PM PST by mylife (Ted Cruz understands the law, and he does not fear the unlawful.)

To: All

The trick with Obama care is they tax you based on a different type of addiction.

Addiction to Freedom, Addiction to independence, Addiction to Work.

47 posted on 11/11/2013 10:39:51 PM PST by mylife (Ted Cruz understands the law, and he does not fear the unlawful.)

To: carlo3b

Interesting indeed. My hope is that the lungs from a smoker DO NOT end up going to some anti-smoking nazi.


To: upsdriver

That is not gonna help anyone LOL

49 posted on 11/11/2013 10:54:15 PM PST by mylife (Ted Cruz understands the law, and he does not fear the unlawful.)

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