In a recent study, researchers from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore concluded that healthy people who donate a kidney are not risking premature death afterwards.

The study tracked around 80000 American who donated one of their kidneys, over a 12 year period, and compared their fate with a matched group of 9000 non-donors.  According to the researchers: “Surgical mortality did not change during the 15-year period (between 1994 and 2009), despite differences in surgical practice and donor selection”.

The death rate among kidney donors matched or was lower than the death rate of non-donors, although in the first 90 days after surgery there was a slightly higher mortality for kidney donors. Also, statistically, women donors had lower mortality rates than male donors.

“We have shown that live kidney donation is safe and free from significant long-term excess mortality,” said dr. Dorry Segev of the Johsn Hopkins School of Medicine.