🧠 Myth: I need two kidneys to live a normal life.
✅ Fact: 1 in 1,000 people are born with only one kidney and live full, healthy lives with the same life expectancy as those with two.

🧠 Myth: You have two kidneys because one is a spare.
✅ Fact: Most kidney diseases affect both kidneys. That’s why transplant or dialysis is needed — not because one kidney “goes bad” and the other doesn’t.

🧠 Myth: You can’t be a donor if you’re over 65.
✅ Fact: Age doesn’t disqualify you — health does. Many healthy individuals in their 70s and even 80s have donated.

🧠 Myth: Marijuana users can’t be kidney donors.
✅ Fact: Using marijuana does not automatically disqualify you. Each case is evaluated individually, and donors from states like California donate regularly.

🧠 Myth: Most kidney transplants come from living donors.
✅ Fact: Actually, there are 2.5 times more deceased donor transplants. The number of living donors could be higher if more people understood how safe and life-changing living donation truly is.

🧠 Myth: Only blood relatives can be a match.
✅ Fact: Anyone can be a match, family or not. Anti-rejection medications and improved matching protocols have made donations from non-relatives very successful.

🧠 Myth: Donors must take anti-rejection drugs for life.
✅ Fact: Only the recipient takes anti-rejection drugs — never the donor.

🧠 Myth: Kidney donors can’t exercise after donating.
✅ Fact: Most donors return to full physical activity in 4–6 weeks, under guidance from their doctor.

🧠 Myth: Donors must follow a special diet for life.
✅ Fact: No dietary restrictions are required after donating. You can eat the same way you did before.

🧠 Myth: Donors can’t drink alcohol anymore.
✅ Fact: Donors can drink alcohol in moderation once cleared by their doctor.

🧠 Myth: Women shouldn’t get pregnant after donating.
✅ Fact: Women can safely become pregnant and have children after kidney donation.

Feel free to send me an email, give me a call or contact the Transplant Department at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center (Livingston, NJ)

• Transplant Department: 973-322-5938
• Information: rwjbh.org/ldi