Overweight major cause of organ failure, dysfunction, says expert

Tamil Nadu faces high rates of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, leading to increased demand for organ donations.

While about 60% of adults in Tamil Nadu were found to be overweight, 17% among them have diabetes and 28% have hypertension, said N. Gopalakrishnan, member secretary, Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN).

Speaking at an event, ‘Workplace injury prevention and organ donation’ organised by Government Rajaji Hospital’s Department of Emergency on World Trauma Day on Friday, he said the data, which was collated during a study conducted on a sample size of 4,500, who represented seven crore adults in the State, could be alarming, but rightly so.

Due to factors such as climate change, air pollution, and lifestyle change, organ failures and dysfunction were reported more than ever. Now there is a high demand for organs from donors which is possible only if families of people dying from brain deaths come forward to donate the organs of the deceased.

Since Tamil Nadu stands first in the list of States with most number of accidents in the country, to address the problem, the State government has come up with an initiative called Tamil Nadu Accident and Emergency Care Initiative (TAEI) which had largely helped in preventing many untimely deaths.

With increase in accidents, chances of brain deaths were also high. Again, to address the issue of high demand for organs, the State government, through a Government Order, honours the organ donor’s mortal remains. This gesture has resulted in an increase in organ donations, he said.

On the success of the programme, especially in major hospitals, he said that next to Rajiv Gandhi Hospital in Chennai, GRH, Madurai, and Government Rajah Mirasdar Hospital, Thanjavur, with 13 organ donations in the current year, stood second in the State.

Dean L. Arul Sundaresh Kumar, in his address, said the Department of Emergency wing which was started in 2021 with not much protocol and knowledge has helped in saving the lives of many patients. It has shown good progress in organ retrieval too. “As convincing a grieving family for organ donation was the most undesirable thing a doctor can do, the medical team musters mental support and convinces families of brain dead patients to donate the organs to help people in dire need,” he said.